


The Needs of the Few

by Godotfound



Category: Star Trek, Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek, F/M, Gen, Language, M/M, Minor Character Death, Sexual Content, Space Battles, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-23
Updated: 2013-10-23
Packaged: 2017-12-30 05:40:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 16
Words: 52,814
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1014803
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Godotfound/pseuds/Godotfound
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Star Trek AU: Starfleet Captain, Dean Winchester, of the USS Impala, is on a routine mission when he receives a communication from a mysterious branch of the Federation known, as Section 31 telling him his father has gone missing. In his search for clues he encounters a strange Vulcan on a deserted planet who may have secrets of his own.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Prologue

 

Falling.

Spinning out into the dark of space and time.

He tried to slow himself down spreading himself out as far as he could. But there was nothing to attach himself to, nothing to even catch on to, nothing to slow his descent.

The universe sped by him with the kind of utter and complete indifference he had never understood.

He remembered a time, long ago, when he was younger and the consequences of his actions were not so evident. He had always been up to something; he always had some crazy idea to liven up the minutia of his family's never ending lives.

He had gone cliff jumping with his brothers once. He remembered the wind flowing upward around him as he fell steadily downward until, at the last second, he wheeled upward in flight, laughing a high stream of noise into the air. His brothers laughed with him as they fell downward too, right behind him. Never touched by mortal fears.

 

This fall was nothing like that.

 

He could feel the darkness closing in around him, the pull of the void threatening to swallow the last of his strength. He knew that once his strength was gone, that would be the end, there would be nothing left, not even a thought.

 

That can't happen. He simply couldn't imagine a world in which he no longer lived.

 

He gathered himself inward, focusing on the white light of his draining power and then with one last deep breath and the memory of a summer so long before hanging in his mind, exploded outward. Breaking free of the voids grasp.

He thought of the stars, brilliant, bright, living things. He wondered if he would ever see them again. He hoped he would. Of all the things in the vast unknowable universe, he loved the stars the most


	2. Chapter 2

 

_Chapter 1 :_

 

     Dean Winchester had worked long and hard to be assigned to the U.S.S. Impala. The Intrepid class starship had been his childhood home. Well, at least its predecessor had. He and his little brother Sam had run up and down its halls a million times. He knew the ship back to front. He had found all of its secrets, one by one. He had learned friendship in games of hide and seek in the metal halls and had rendezvous with secret agents (also known as Star fleet children) in the Impala's cracks and crevices. The number of hours he had spent playing in the hallowed halls was almost countless as was the love he had for them. Dean's only dream had been to captain the ship that had nurtured his childhood and his teenage romances with the quiet solace that he had never found anywhere else. The stars were his home and the Impala, in his humble opinion, was the only ship worth sailing them in.

      He had studied hard (though of course he had spent an appropriate time on certain kinds of extracurricular activities,) and had gone off to Star fleet with every intention of becoming a captain of a starship like his father. He had done well and even though his father may not have said that he was proud, Dean hoped he heard it in his silence.

     He remembered the day Bobby had told him that he was being transferred to the Impala, newly rebuilt after the war with the Borg, as Bobby's first officer. Dean's father had long since transferred off of the Impala as it's captain into a realm of Star fleet that Dean new little about and his father seldom spoke of.

     Dean had thought the day he had stepped back onto the Impala, not as a civilian but as first officer and commander, was the happiest day of his life. He was mistaken. That day came 6 years later when Bobby retired after a long and decorated career and Dean took over as captain of the only ship he could say that he honestly loved.

     He had hoped Sam would have followed him to Star fleet as he had followed Dean everywhere since he learned to walk. Sam was certainly smart, smarter than Dean ever thought himself to be, and he would've succeeded. But Sam had plans of his own; plans that did not involve Starfleet or Dean. If Dean was honest with himself, he always knew that Sam had no interest in Dean'a chosen career path. Although the brothers shared a desire to help others they had completely different methods on how to go about it. As Sam grew up he became more and more distant from their father's strict rule. In the end, that meant that he became more and more distant from Dean, the loyal son.

      Sam had started his education at the Daystrom institute studying law. He had hopes of one day of becoming someone that could help people who needed help without having to put their lives in danger. He wanted to use the law for what it was always meant for, justice. Sam learned his basics from studying at Daystrom but he had higher visions, visions that one day may have included even ambassadorial work. He had always been an admirer of Ambassador Sarek. His dream was not to stay at Daystrom until he graduated but to become a student at the Sarek School of Diplomacy and Ambassadorial Studies, though it remained a secret from everyone but himself. He had reapplied and reapplied and finally his persistence had paid off. He had told no one he was accepted. The days when Sam would have contacted Dean and his father with the hope that they would be proud were over. He had buried all his optimism with Jess. Instead he quietly put in the forms for his withdrawal from Daystrom and hopped the first ride to Vulcan with nothing but the clothes on his back and a small backpack of his things.

     His father had a heart attack when he found out, not a literal one of course, but he was furious enough either way. He had already been upset with Sam's choice of Daystrom over Star Fleet as it was. And now his youngest son had run off to Vulcan. He was outraged. Perhaps it was because of his realization that Sam's transfixion on law was not just a phase, perhaps it was because he knew that his dreams of his youngest son following in his footsteps was now just that, a dream. Perhaps it was both. What mattered more to Dean than any reason was the fact that his father and his beloved brother were now estranged, they didn't exchange words, letters, not even angry messages sent through sub-space. There was only silence between them. Dean was afraid it would never end and the last ties that held his little family together would turn to dust.

     Dean hadn't seen either his brother or his father since he assumed the position of captain but he did talk to them both from time to time even though he of course, never mentioned one to the other.

      Time went on. Things followed a normal progression, or at least as normal as anything on a starship could go for two years. Even though being a captain had its fair share of difficulties, Dean took to them well. The only strange thing Dean ever noticed was his father's gradual decrease in contact as the months went on. But, if he was honest, he didn't pay it much mind, his father had been distant ever since he had left the Impala.

    But Dean's life seemed destined to never stay the same for too long. The call came in on one of his few hours of down time. He had fallen asleep on his couch reading an old earth classic and one of his favorites, "Cat's Cradle" by Kurt Vonnegut. He had received the book as a present for becoming captain from his brother, and had been reading the well-thumbed pages before drifting off to sleep. He was snoring softly when the trill of the call alarm split through the air and it was all he could do to not fall of the couch and flat onto his face.

      "Captain?" A voice said over the intercom.

      "W-what?" Dean cleared his throat. "Yes, what is it."

      "Sir, there is a message for you coming in over sub-space. They said it was urgent."

     " Oh, yeah, ok, did they happen to say who it was?" Dean said attempting to shake the sleep out of his mind.

       "She said it was classified, sir. She had the correct code clearance."

       "We'll in that case," Dean said standing up and running his hands over his pants to hopefully get the wrinkles out " I'll take it in my ready room."

     "Yes, sir."

      He had to admit his curiosity was piqued. Although he had seen his fair share of urgent messages in his time at Starfleet, he still always found himself anxious to find out what they were about. Generally this message came when he was out sailing the stars and ran across a ship in distress, or was called to provide support for a fellow Starfleet ship being attacked. That had happened once before, only a few months ago when a federation science vessel had been attacked out near Deep Space Five. But generally his daily life on the Impala did not include attacks, or distress signals, or urgent messages.

     He escorted vessels, mapped stars, and delivered humanitarian aid where it was needed. He occasionally did some adventuring but that wasn't his mission. Right now he was helping a scientists collect soil samples on a list of twelve different worlds. It wasn't an especially interesting mission. But orders were orders.

     Apparently this scientist thought that the comparison of the soil samples would be important in determining the worlds' future growth, but frankly Dean had practically been bored to tears the last few weeks. He would rather be out there, helping people, but instead he was stuck on some unoccupied planet system with a dirt-obsessed scientist. Secretly he hoped this urgent message would tell him to drop the scientist off at the nearest occupied planet and then make his way to more important matters.

     The halls had been practically deserted as he made his way along the familiar corridors. He had said a brief hello to a patrolling ensign, but otherwise had seen no one. As he entered the bridge the man who had contacted him stood up and smiled shakily.

       " Sorry to have disturbed you, sir. He said, his messy brown hair falling wherever it pleased. " Uh, I sent the message to your ready room like you asked. Did you, you know, need anything else?" Dean surmised he preferred the comm to speaking in person. This one was new, he had boarded the ship last time they were not in the middle of who-knows-where space, and had done his job quite well as long as he was left to do it alone. He was startled easily and did not speak well in person but was a good engineer and was a practical master of the computer system so Dean was happy with him. He had heard a rumor that the new guy's real passion was writing but Dean figured that was his own personal business and hadn't asked.

     " Thanks. Shurley, right?" The man nodded eyes wide. "Keep up the good work, ok?" He said, the man nodded again and Dean clapped him on the shoulder amiably as he made his way to the ready room.

     The doors closed behind him with a near silent whoosh and then the room was quiet. Dean could hear the dull murmuring of the bridges normal operation through the door, but it seemed distant. He took a minute to run his hand through his hair and down his shirt, making sure he at least looked presentable, then took a seat in his chair.

     His desk was a solid off-white color; straight lines of blue and green across the outside edges of the top were its only embellishments. On its surface Dean kept the only picture he had of his brother, his father, and himself all together. They were at the award ceremony where Sam had won an award for an essay he had written on diplomacy. Both his father and Dean's arms had wound themselves around Sam's shoulders and Sam was smiling, his green eyes alight with the adrenaline of having won.  Dean had never seen his father look so proud.

     On the other side of his desk he had a picture of his mom. Her long blonde hair had fallen out of its ponytail and drifted around her shoulders. She was smiling but not at the camera, it was if she hadn't even realized the camera was there. She was young, younger than Dean had ever known her and more importantly she looked happy. Dean was glad of this; she had died before she had even had the chance to grow old, before any chance of creases appearing in the corners of her eyes and mouth were she had smiled so many times. Any picture of her where she looked happy comforted Dean. He was glad to know that even if she had died at least she had lived a good life before that.

     So, now for this urgent message. He clicked on the screen and sat back in his chair. "So, how can I help you?" The woman who appeared on the screen seemed to be about his age. She had wavy blonde hair that fell to her shoulders and a look of polite indifference.

     "You are Dean Winchester?" She said raising a perfectly trimmed eyebrow. Her accent was decidedly English and straight to the point. Dean thought about saying something snarky, Sam had always said that was one of his greatest weak points, the desire to defy authority. He had mostly gotten past it; Starfleet had managed to change that. Occasionally though, during certain circumstances, the desire resurfaced itself. He beat the urge down, though, and attempted a charming smile.

      "Yes I am, and may ask who you are? And why you are contacting me in the middle of the night." That hadn't worked so well.

     The woman sighed. "My name is Bela Talbot, I worked with your father."

     "Worked?"

     "Well, technically, I suppose you could say that I am currently working with him. That isn't why I contacted you, however." She ran her fingers through her hair and fixed him with a sympathetic look he assumed was pure fabrication. "He is missing."

      "Missing?" Apparently Dean was only capable of one-word responses right now.

      "That is what I said." Bela said, smiling at him as if he was something to be pitied.

      "Yeah, I know, but I mean how? Did he run off somewhere? Was he kidnapped? Did his ship blow up? What?"

       The woman, Bela, paused, she twirled a piece of her hair around her finger, looked away from the screen. Her brows furrowed briefly and then her eyes returned to Dean. "We don't know. That's why I'm contacting you now. My superiors seem to think that, as his son, you would be best equipped to find him."

     Dean had a sudden thought. He knew his father and he would have never just up and disappear from an obligation unless he had a damn good reason to. "He ran away from you guys, didn't he?" Bela said nothing. "If he was hiding from you and your superiors, whoever you are, then maybe you should tell me why the hell I should be helping you."

     The woman frowned. "You should watch yourself, Dean Winchester, or you may find yourself in a position you won't like."

     " Is that a threat?"

     "What do you think? We do not want to be your enemy, Captain, believe me. It is in everyone's best interest that John Winchester is found. As a show of our good faith we will be transferring all of your father's notes, research, and personal logs."

     "So I can do your work for you."

     "May I remind you that you want to find your father as much, if not more, than we do?"

      Dean took a deep breath. He knew this woman was right no matter how much he distrusted her. He would just have to find a way to keep whoever these people were from finding out when he found his father. For some reason he couldn't name, Dean had a bad feeling about what they might do once his father returned. He leaned back and crossed his arms. " Fine, send them over but I want to know on whose authority I'm being sent off across the galaxy on."

    "Section 31, of course." Bela said laughing before the screen suddenly switched off.

    Dean grinned humorlessly. "Of course, real helpful." He leaned up picked up his PADD from his desk and, not to Dean's surprise, all the information Bela had promised him was there, as if that's where it had always been. He felt suddenly tired. As he flipped through the new info on his PADD he was struck by the realization that Bela, whoever she was, was telling the truth. His father was missing.

     Since his father had been transferred from his ship, his relationship with Dean had been more distant than it had ever been. Dean felt like he shouldn't be nervous about it, his father could take care of himself, always had. If Bela hadn't contacted him, he might not have ever known that the days that went by without word from his father were strange.

       Well, he had to start somewhere, if he could find a clue to where his father could have gone, he may be able to think of an excuse to tell his superiors on why he needed to go there. He looked through the PADD for his father's last note. It was dated three weeks prior and said simply:

_"I think I have found Gabriel finally. He is good at hiding but I'm sure I've finally caught up. Now I can find the answers I've been looking for. I'm off to a Class M planet in the Persephonian star system, hopefully this will be the end of the long chase and we can finally start planning for what's ahead."_

If Dean remembered correctly, that star system used to be home to a great empire, but they had died out a millennia ago. Sam had always been interested in things like that, lost civilizations, cities in ruins, and Dean, despite his desperate attempts not to, had picked up some of the information.  He knew Section 31 hadn't changed his mission; it was still the same when he checked his computer. So now all he had to do was figure out how he could get Starfleet to agree to send him there.

     He could take a leave of absence, but getting there would still be a major issue even in perfect conditions and he didn't think he could just ask to go, his superiors would sympathize with him about his father but would be inevitably unhelpful. They would remind him of his responsibilities and his missions and he would find himself in the same position he was before. If he didn't have to take this ridiculous scientist around to collect dirt samples maybe it would be a different story.

     Wait.

     The scientist!

     If he could convince the scientist that he wanted to go collect his dirt samples in the Persephonian system then that would give him an excuse to be there. After that he could kindly ask him to wait while Dean investigated, for safety reasons of course. No one would get in the way and hopefully that would be the end of this mess. Maybe his father had just gotten stranded out there and no ship had found him yet. Three weeks wasn't too long of a time after all. Dean leaned back in his chair, thinking perhaps, sometimes things were just that easy

 

 


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 2:_

 

    It hadn't been easy convincing the scientist to go out of his way to collect samples on a planet that had already been thoroughly studied, but Dean was nothing if not charming. The scientist, a Dr. Frank Devereux, didn't take the news very well. He was strange, overly paranoid. When he wasn't busy chasing proof of a variety of conspiracy theories he actually did some amazing work, or so Dean was told. Science wasn't exactly Dean's cup of tea. Sure, it was part of his job and he did it well enough, but the things Dean really loved were bringing the engines in a ship to life, sailing the galaxy in search of anything new, and most of all, helping others. If asked Dean would say the helping part was a purely selfish endeavor, a way to prolong his good reputation, the few people close to him would smile and nod and let Dean's fantasy of complete indifference to others continue.

      Well, Dean thought, so what if the scientist is annoyed with the whole situation, that makes two of us. It was no secret that Dean had been unhappy when assigned the mission to help Dr. Devereux obtain his soil samples. In a way, he figured it was Starfleet's way of reprimanding him without reprimanding him, about his involvement with the humanitarian aid on Romulus. He had been against leaving Romulus from the beginning, vocally against it. No matter how much he hated the Romulans, all he could think when he was being given orders to leave was that the decision was wrong. He left though, he knew what the chain of command meant and he accepted the crap assignment with minimal grumbling.

     It seemed that things had actually ended up in his favor after all, though. Having Dr. Devereux on board gave him the excuse he needed to go find his father. He knew Starfleet wouldn't approve, but if there was one thing that he had learned over the years, it was that sometimes you had to do things that other people may not necessarily approve of for the greater good. And for Dean, finding his father was definitely part of the greater good.

      He may have been a little over-zealous in his conversation about the wonders of the Persephonian system, all of the uninhabited planets full of rocks, ripe for the taking. He may have implied that certain things happened to certain people when Dr. Devereux had disliked the idea of going to some already studied planets. It wasn't like Dean was actually going to do anything to the scientist; he just maybe implied he would. If Sam where here he would have given Dean his patented un-approving look and gone on about the morality of threatening the poor man or something like that.

        Sam wasn't here though and Dean could do what he anted without judgement. Well, whatever, Dr. Devereux had agreed with him in the end. The scientist would be happy once he got there and Dean would be happy too. Everyone got what he or she wanted.

  

...

 

     Castiel had been searching for his brother for what seemed like eons. Perhaps it had. The longer he was away from home, the more linear time made since to him but he still found himself with a significant lack of understanding for it.

     He hadn't even known where to start. Gabriel had always been good about hiding himself. He had used that talent in games with his brothers when Castiel was young, surprising them all with his tricks and his lightening fast disappearances. It was like magic, even for a Q. But it seemed that Gabriel had found a different use for his skills, and Castiel knew if his brother didn't want to be found, he wouldn't be found. At least not in the way Castiel was accustomed.

      He missed home with an intensity that he had not expected. No matter what it had turned into. After the war, it was difficult, but at least he still had Anna, and Gabriel, and so many of his other brothers and sisters that had now left, never to return. He understood that home wasn't like it was when he was young, when they were at peace with each other, before the differences between Michael and Lucifer had spread outward to all of them. That didn't stop him from missing home though; it didn't stop him from wanting to protect what little he had left.

     That was why he had left in the first place, not to run away from the multitude of problems there, but to try to save the only home he had ever known.  He found himself in an awkward position and he learned quickly that every Q was not made equally. Castiel had known this logically for a long time and had accepted it. That was the way life was in the continuum, and, even after the war, it still had never been an issue for Castiel.

      That was until he found himself on the losing side of the fight against the very people he was trying to protect. He was of the opinion that his siblings should do whatever they could to defend themselves with the threat of another war looming over them. He was raised as a soldier after all, and as a soldier, he always wanted to be ready. His eldest brother was of a different opinion though which meant the multitude of the Q were as well.

    Without Michael by his side, he was sure if a war happened they wouldn't be so lucky this time around. Which was why he had to find Gabriel. Gabriel with his tricks and his easy kindness would help him. He had too, if Gabriel didn't Castiel would be lost.

      When he had first set out to find Gabriel he had been certain he would do it quickly. Gabriel would've known his brother was looking for him and he would have come out of the shadows and embraced Castiel, happy to see him after all these years.  That, of course, wasn't what happened. If Castiel was a less driven Q, he may have succumbed to the thought that perhaps his brother didn't want to be found and would have slunk back to the continuum defeated. Castiel _was_ driven though, perhaps more driven than any Q before him, and so, the thought never crossed his mind.

    Regardless of his brother's unwillingness to appear, Castiel had heard stories, and from those stories he had formulated an idea of the places Gabriel had been and the places Gabriel would go. In this way, Castiel had created a plan, in his calculating mind, of where the best places were to find Gabriel. And this plan sent him straight into the heart of the Persephonian system.

 

 

...

    

 

     A thousand thousand years before the birth of humanity, The Persephonians ruled planets and stars and moons. Their architecture rose into the air as if it could defy gravity itself piercing spire like into the sky. They were philosophers, artists, warriors, leaders, mothers, fathers, and everyone in between. All children of a winged god. And they were dead. Castiel remembered them. Remembered holding his brother's long fingered hand as they walked the streets of Astikar, the merchant Capitol of the system. He remembered the tall people in their flowing robes and the vendors on the street that sold silken linens spun by the vibrations of music.

        Castiel remembered this; saw the ghosts of Astikar walking the desert where the streets should have been. The streets were gone, the towers turned to dust; only the ghosts were here, just the ghosts and Castiel's memories. Castiel could not go back to that time, was forbidden to visit any time, any place, that Lucifer had walked because of the war. However, Castiel could almost feel his brother's hand in his still. Almost.

        Dean did not know this. History had left the Persephonians behind. All but the system that shared their name. He sailed the Impala into the system without seeing what time had left. If he heard the echo of bell chimes and the low thunder of drums as the second planet from the orange sun came into view like a dream long forgotten, he didn't say anything.

     As soon as Dean established orbit with the planet, Dr. Devereux was on his bridge. He wondered if the man had been waiting by the turbo lift for his chance. "Mr. Winchester-"

"Captain." Dean said, turning in his chair to look at the older man.

Devereux grumbled something under his breath. "Captain Winchester, you will be sending me on the first landing party, correct? My research is extremely important and-"

"We will be sending a landing party first. After we've established that the area is safe then I assure you that you will be the first one to know."

"Listen, you are the one who dragged me out to God only knows where because you said I'd be interested in the soil samples, now you intend to delay me further. What's your game, Winchester?"

     Before Dean could think of a comeback someone else beat him to it.

Commander Joanna Harvelle, or Jo as she preferred to be called stood up from her post, her long blonde hair tied up behind her face, past the Bajoran chain that connected the ring in the top of her ear to the intricate half circle at the bottom of it. She could have been human if not for the ridges on the bridge of her nose. Her lips were set in a stern line as she walked in between Dean and Deveraux.

     "Dr. Deveraux, you will follow Starfleet protocol as long as you are onboard this ship. That not only includes waiting for the first landing party to secure a possibly dangerous area, it also means you will not disrespect the captain. Is that clear?"

     Frank Deveraux's mouth shut with an audible click.

     "We will be sure to send for you once we have secured the area." Jo said, guiding the scientist into the turbo-lift. Once he was safely gone she turned back to Dean. "Captain, can I see you in your ready room. Preferably _now_ rather than later." Dean shifted, he didn't like where this was going.

    "Uh, yeah, sure thing Harvelle. Ensign..." Dean looked at the shaggy haired man behind one of the consoles. He couldn’t for the life of him remember the man's last name."...Ensign Garth.... Keep us in orbit. No one transports down without my express permission."

"Will do, Captain. No one leaves the ship, got it." Garth said saluting. Dean made a mental note to tell him not to do that. He turned to Jo and nodded to his ready room. Once Dean was seated behind his desk and the door was safely shut, Jo crossed her arms and narrowed her blue eyes at Dean.

     "Will you tell me what the hell is going on here, Dean?"

     "Jo-"

     Jo held her hand up "No, Dean, shut up and let me talk. I heard rumors that for some crazy reason, that scientist seems to think you are going to kill him-"

     "I wouldn't say kill-"

     " We traveled 3 days away from where we should be right now, and for what? This is the middle of nowhere. This system is uninhabitable. The weather is too severe. So Dean, why don't you tell me why we're really here because it is sure as hell not for soil samples and Devereaux did not put you up to this. We already heard about that from him." She leveled her gaze at him and tapped her foot impatiently.

     "Jo-"

     "And don't you dare give me any bullshit. I know when you're lying."

     Dean leaned forward in his chair and rested his forehead in his palms, then looked back up at Jo. "Commander Harvelle, you know most captains wouldn't appreciate their fist officer talking to them that way."

     Jo lowered her eyes a smile creeping onto her stern face. She slowly uncrossed her arms. "You’re not most captains. And besides we go back. If you didn't want someone to tell you you're stupid when you're being stupid, you wouldn't have chosen me for this position."

    "Fair enough. I remember the first time I met you, a fresh new recruit from Starfleet who had never been off Bajor. You were very sassy then."

    Jo took a seat in the chair across from Dean. "I am very sassy now, or hadn't you noticed."

    "I had actually."

    "Listen Dean, you really helped me out back in our academy days and you even got me on this ship. Not only that, we're friends. Why don't you tell me what's going on." She sighed audibly. "You don't have to do everything alone, you know."

     Dean looked at his friend across the expanse of his desk. She stared back at him, her eyes bright over her red uniform, blonde hair falling out of one side of her ponytail. She was right. He had wanted her on his ship when he became captain, mostly to keep him in line. She was one of his only friends and she always knew when to keep asking and when to let things go. He hadn't wanted to tell her anything in fear of jeopardizing her career if any questions were asked. But he couldn't keep her out of it any longer, now that she had picked up on Dean's strange behavior. She _was_ one of the most stubborn people he had ever met.

       "I got a call a few day ago from some woman that works with my father. They said he was missing. Apparently he had been doing some research on the side and now he's just gone. Barely a trace."

       "Just gone.... Your father is well known and a professional, there is no way that something just happened to him. He must have gone off for a reason. Do you know what he was researching?"

       "No, he's been careful about the way he was phrasing his logs, at least in the ones I have. It's like he didn't want anyone to know what he was looking into. In his last note he said that he had found the person he had been searching for...Someone named Gabriel."

       Jo nodded. “And that’s why we’re here. And why you threatened poor Dr. Deveraux.”

     “I didn’t threaten him so much as strongly suggest that there might be unwelcome repercussions to not coming here.”

     Jo smiled. “You threatened him.”

     Dean smiled back. “Yeah, I threatened him, just a little.”

     Jo brushed some of her blonde hair away from her face. “So when are we going down. I have to admit, I always love a good adventure.”

     “What do you mean ‘we,’ I’m the only one going down.”

    “Oh no you’re not, who knows what could be down there waiting for you. I’m coming too.”

   “Isn’t it against protocol for the first officer to leave the ship at the same time as the captain?” Dean said smirking at her.

    ‘Isn’t it against protocol for the captain to leave the ship alone during a potentially dangerous situation?”

   “Yeah, but Jo, I’m not dragging you into this. You need to be here, just in case anything happens to me down there.”

   “Nothing is going to happen to you as long as I’m there too. Charlie can watch the ship. You know she’s good. She could run the whole ship by herself if she wanted to.” Dean stared at her across the desk. Part of him wanted to tell her no, say it was an order. If there was any member of his crew he would want captaining his ship, it was Joanna Harvelle.

      There was another part of him that was relieved she had offered to come with him, too. Just as there was no one he trusted more with his ship there was no member of his crew he trusted more to have his back. He also knew she pwas right, Charlie was a technological genius. She could have every function in the ship running by itself, at least for a few hours. On top of that, Charlie could be authoritative when she felt like it, though, Dean was sure she didn't like to be. It wouldn’t have been the first time she had been the commanding officer of the ship and it probably wouldn’t be the last.

     “It’s against my better judgment, but…alright, you can come with me.” Jo smiled. ‘Don’t go around telling anyone about it though. Just you and me, I’ll think of something to tell Dr. Devereaux.”

     “Who do you think I am, Becky? I know how to keep my mouth shut, don’t worry so much.”

     “I’m the captain, if I don’t worry, who will.” Jo leaned over Dean’s desk and patted him on the shoulder a couple of times.

     “I better get my things together, seeing as this is a great one on one bonding experience. See you soon, captain.”

 

 

...

    

 

          Castiel was sure Gabriel had been here. He was even sure that he had been here recently. But he wasn’t here anymore, Castiel was sure of that too. He could feel the echoing of his brother’s power through the rocks and the ruins. It filled the dead place with color as it burnt out. If Castiel were anyone else he would have felt lost at this point. The thought coming to him suddenly that his brother was well and truly avoiding him. But Castiel was Castiel and being so, resolved himself to keep searching, no matter how long it took. He sat down in the dust and leaned his head against the ancient stone of a ruined building. He thought it might have been a tower at one time, or a temple, maybe it was just a house. He was tired and his vision that usually saw so easily through time was waning. His mortal bones ached with a dull pulse. Being away from the continuum for so long was draining him slowly but surely.

       He thought about how, when he was connected to the continuum, his power was limitless; he could go anywhere in space and time that he desired. Now he just felt tired. He closed his eyes and hoped that maybe at least the sounds of the past would reach him. Maybe then he wouldn’t feel so alone. His eyelids felt heavier every moment. His head leaned back against the wall. He couldn't keep his eyes open any longer.

        Castiel was startled suddenly, his thoughts going a thousand miles a minute. Castiel reached back into his memory and found nothing after he had sat down on the ground. The sun was setting turning the sand to gold and orange where it seemed like only moments before the light from the star was blindingly bright against his mortal eyes. A man was in front of him, or at least something man-shaped. Castiel didn’t know when he had gotten there. He had hair the same golden color as the sand and was sitting cross-legged, his head rested on his palm just as his arm rested on his leg.  His posture spoke of an easy calmness but Castiel could see beneath it, see the energy coiled like a snake about to strike. The man leveled his blue eyes on Castiel and smiled gently.

       "Hello, brother."

       "Lucifer." Castiel said.

       "You don't look so well, but I suppose you know that, since you wouldn't have been sleeping otherwise." Lucifer said leaning his body forward, but he didn't reach out to Castiel. Instead he laid his hands in his lap, tilting his head to the side. " How long have you been away from home, little Q?"

        Castiel didn't answer, didn't want Lucifer to know how far he had fallen already. "You are supposed to be dead."

       " And you're supposed to be safe and tucked away at home, but here you are and here I am. Funny how things aren't as easy as we are lead to believe." he frowned. "What are you doing here?"

       Castiel thought about saying that he was looking for him, in essence that was the truth, but, even now after everything, he didn't like lying to his brother. "Looking for Gabriel." He opted for instead.

       Lucifer tilted his head. "Gabriel left then, I'm not surprised. How long ago was this?"

       "A long time."

       Lucifer didn't respond just tilted his head to gaze out over the empty sands. "Do you remember when I took you here. You were so young and small. I remember when I first saw you; I wanted you to see every amazing thing the universe had to offer. You were so full of wonder, little Castiel. That's my favorite thing about you." Lucifer reached out then, to his brother. Castiel moved away.

      "You're angry with me." Castiel noted that Lucifer hadn't asked a question, he just knew, like he had always known what he was thinking. They stared at each other. Seconds ticking away, then minutes.

      Lucifer broke the silence first. " I'm the same as I was when I took you here that first time. Do you remember how you wouldn't let go of my hand? You weren't very big and it was your first time exploring."

         "You are not the same. That was a different life, for both of us." Castiel spat out.

        "Castiel." Lucifer said. "Little Castiel, the continuum has abandoned you, just as they abandoned me. You don't need to be alone anymore, wandering the universe. Come with me. We can go back home, together."

         Castiel watched Lucifer, his blue eyes solemn over his earnest face, hand outstretched. Castiel remembered loving his older brother, trusting him implicitly, looking up to him. He longed for those times again, and almost leaned towards Lucifer. For a moment he could see how easy it would be, to take his brother's hand. To go with him like he did when he was so very young. But then he remembered the war with all too much clarity, and he remembered he was no longer the little brother who had walked these ancient streets with wonder, but a soldier on a mission. "You know I will not come with you."

       Lucifer looked down for a moment. When he looked back up the gentle mask of Castiel's brother was gone "How strange you are." He smiled but it was not kind. "Cut off from the continuum, all alone, how long do you think it will be before you get stuck in that ridiculous pointy eared form? Do you think you will find Gabriel by then, do you think our dear brother will come and save you?" He tilted his head to the side; Castiel had known Lucifer to do many things. He had known his brother once as the kindest person he had ever known. He had fought him in the war that had ravaged the continuum, finding the depth of his righteous cruelty and brilliant mind. However, in all that time, he had never known his brother to relinquish the defining factor that made Lucifer, Lucifer: his unending love for his family.

       Castiel did not feel that now. " Let me let you in on a secret, little brother" Lucifer continued " Gabriel probably already knows you're looking for him, probably has since you started, just because he likes to play dumb doesn't mean he isn't fully capable. Now, what's going to happen is Gabriel will lead you on a wild goose chase across the universe, one step ahead of you at every turn until you exhaust the remains of your power and then he will leave you to die a mortal death."

       Castiel knew, logically, that Lucifer was punishing him for refusing to join him. But not once had Lucifer ever been known to outright lie and so Castiel found himself wondering if what Lucifer was saying wasn't true. If this mission was completely pointless. If he was fated to die alone.

        "Gabriel is a coward." Lucifer said, " I know, because I taught him everything he knows, every trick, every scheme. Trust me Castiel; you will never catch up to him. You might as well run back to Michael and the continuum and pray our dear older brother forgives you for leaving his perfect little utopia. You don't belong here." Lucifer's last look at Castiel was mocking but Castiel thought he saw, just for a moment, true concern peak through. Lucifer turned to leave, and despite Castiel calling out to him, he was already gone, leaving nothing but empty sand


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter Three:_

 

     Dean was lucky to pick up the strange readings, almost like a warp signature, but smaller and grounded. They leaped up on his tricorder like lightning and were gone just as fast, just like they had never been there in the first place. Some people may have ignored it, thought it a trick of the light or of their tired brain. Dean was different, a life in Starfleet had taught him to trust what he saw, at least until something that made more sense popped up.

          Luckily for him, the reading was close. He held up his hand to Jo and motioned to her to follow him, quickly and quietly. Dean crouched behind rubble as he walked towards the source of the reading but couldn't get a good view of anything until he unexpectedly tumbled out of the last of the ruins and into an open space at the end of what must have been a town long ago. He looked down at his tricorder, found this was were the strange reading had stemmed from and looked up to find their _was_ someone else in the clearing with him. Someone that wasn't his blond haired first officer.

         The stranger was a man, scratch that, Dean thought, a Vulcan man stood up, cocked his head to the side as if confused, but didn't move from where he stood. Dean stared at the man for a moment before thinking that maybe having a staring contest with a stranger on a desert planet wasn't one of his best ideas. He took a few steps forward and a deep breath that he hoped wasn't too visible and said: "Captain Dean Winchester of the U.S.S Impala."

      The man stared at him for a moment longer before slowly bridging the gap between them till there was only about ten feet left. Dean noted that the Vulcan had some of the messiest hair he had seen on a Vulcan and a deep frown set on his face. Dean couldn't help thinking that he seemed troubled (he wondered absently what a Vulcan on a deserted planet with no other ships except for the Impala in orbit would be troubled about). He looked up at the Vulcan's face as he got closer and saw the man's bright blue eyes; the bluest eyes Dean had ever seen on anyone's face, human, Vulcan, or otherwise.

      He felt Jo's fingers slide around his arm, a warning not to go any further. Dean had been known to run into situations without thinking, and Jo had learned pretty quickly to be a voice of reason when necessary.

      "This is my first officer, Commander Jo Harvelle." Dean said, Jo dropped her hand from his arm and walked up beside him. She lifted her hand, index finger touching middle finger, ring finger touching little finger.

       "Live long and prosper." She said.

       "Peace and long life." Castiel said, echoing her movement.

     Jo not so subtly elbowed Dean who had never been particularly good at all the regular social customs and raised his hand quickly echoing the salute. "Live long and prosper."

"To you as well, Captain Dean Winchester." Castiel said as solemnly as ever. He stared at Dean a moment longer before saying "I am called Castiel." So not the person his father was looking for then. Dean supposed the man could be lying but for some reason, Dean got the feeling that he wasn't.

      "Well its uh...nice to meet you." Dean said looking back between his first and the Vulcan. "I was kind of wondering though, what you're doing in the middle of nowhere." He looked around quickly, "and with no ship, to boot." He smiled amiably, a tactic he had learned quickly that always seemed to disarm a person when they first met.

      Castiel's brows furrowed as he too looked around. "My ship was...lost. A sandstorm took me by surprise. I was just contemplating the situation when you arrived." He said looking back up at Dean, gaze steady. Dean had to read people and situations regularly and underneath Castiel's calm facade and long severe Vulcan robe, he thought he saw loss written in the man's tired shoulders and in his brow, knit together.

     "Did you have a crew too?"

     "I did not, I traveled alone."

     "Alone? Must be important to come out here all by yourself. Not a very logical choice considering the danger of the area." Jo said.

     Castiel looked over at Jo and nodded, responding calmly "I am looking for my brother. I was led to believe he would be here." Dean frowned, he thought the Vulcan was definitely suspicious who wouldn't be, walking alone on a deserted world; but looking for your brother? Well, that was something he could understand.

     "I'm looking for someone too." Dean said, the words out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying. He could feel Jo's eyes on him but she didn't say anything. "My father, he's missing, and this was his last known location." he paused and then thought what the hell and continued "He was looking for someone named Gabriel."

       Dean didn't miss the surprise that crossed Castiel's solemn face. He seemed to mull over something for a moment before speaking. "We seem to have that in common, Captain, this was... also my brother's last known location. It seems very possible that my brother was the one your father was looking for, though I am not sure as to why."

      "Your brother's name is Gabriel? That's a uh...interesting name for a Vulcan." Dean said.

     "Yes, he has been known to use that name. You could say that he is an interesting man." Castiel paused. " I would say he is difficult to find." Dean smiled. He understood the exasperation he heard in Castiel's voice. He had heard it many times, more blatantly, in his own. "May I ask why your father was looking for him?" Castiel said.

     "Your guess is as good as mine, why were you looking for him?" Dean said.

     Castiel looked down at the sand for a few moments before looking back up at Dean. "I need his help, he is one of my oldest brothers and I believe he can make my eldest brother see reason. As I am the youngest, I am not as... well regarded."

      "We'll that's kind of stupid." Dean said, thinking of his genius little brother and how ridiculous it would be not to listen to him because of age.

      "I think so, yes. But I'm afraid that doesn't help you determine your father's motives in searching for Gabriel." Castiel said, solemn note back in his voice. He inclined his head to the side again, Dean supposed this was some type of contemplative habit, before saying "I would be willing to point you in the right direction though, I know some people who may know where he has gone."

     "I'll do you one better, you can come with me to talk to your people. The Impala's not a huge ship but we have accommodations ready."

      "Hey," Jo said, breaking her earlier silence "can I talk to you for a second, Captain."

      "Yeah, sure." Dean responded, turning to Jo who lead him to the edge of the clearing.

      "Dean, you have no idea who this guy is, he could be lying about everything he just said."

      "Yeah, well, I don't think he is, and besides, I can't just leave him here. We would have taken him onto the ship, no questions asked, if he had been stranded out in space. " After a moment Jo nodded, conceding the point.

      "Just be careful ok, keep an eye on him. Please?" Jo said.

      Dean laid a hand on her shoulder, "I will. I know I have a tendency to not think things through completely. Bit we wouldn't be here now if I didn't do something right, right?"

       She nodded. "I guess you’re not a total lost cause." Dean smiled wirily then turned from Jo and motioned to Castiel, who walked up to where they stood. " So what do you say?"

      "I would like to accept your offer, Captain. Thank you. "

     "I'm glad you got that all sorted out, but I think we should get a move on. My tricorder is picking up some readings indicative of a sandstorm coming this way. " Jo said looking down at the device which had started to beep steadily.

      "Right." Dean said, wanting, in no way, to be stuck in the middle of any storm, especially a sand one. "Commander, why don't you start us on our way back."

       "Will do, sir." Jo responded as she started to walk back the way they had come.

 


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter Four:_

 

         In all of the time and Space he had been through, Castiel had never been on a starship. Anna had tried to convince him to come on one with her. They had always fascinated her after all. But somehow Castiel didn't think disguising themselves as Kingons and going to battle in one of their warships was his idea of fun. Luckily Anna had found someone else to go with her and Castiel didn't feel too guilty about insisting on sitting that particular adventure out.

       He missed Anna, and being on a starship for the first time without her made the ache in his chest just that much more painful. Anna had been his best friend, his closest sibling, and when she left, he had been heartbroken and so infuriatingly angry that he hadn't known what to do with himself. Now, that the anger about her departure was gone, he thought that being angry with her had probably been easier than missing her.

        Dean was walking just ahead of Castiel, so he could adequately lead him around the ship for what He called "The Grand Tour." As if this was the actual title of the activity and that he did this often enough that giving someone a tour would have a title. Castiel noted that this human walked the ship halls the way Castiel had seen other humans walk the halls of a church, as if their was something holy and sacred woven into the very walls of the ship. In fact, Dean looked at the ship and its crew with such fondness he wondered how the man contained it all in his fragile human body. Castiel had spent an eternity among the stars and couldn't think of anything he looked at that way. Maybe it was because he could see inside the man, see the pulse of emotion flow through him like color in clear water, but Castiel supposed that was only part of it.

       Anna had always said that with all of their siblings' knowledge and understanding of living things, they still didn't really understand them, couldn't look to the heart of them and know them. Castiel, who hadn't spent a lot of time with mortal things hadn't really known what she meant. But now, walking behind Dean, he thought he did.

     "And this will be your quarters for the duration of your stay." Dean said, opening a door and stepping inside with Castiel following.

     Castiel looked around noting the bed, bunked to make room for a small desk underneath it. A small closet stood to the right of the door so that the bed fit perfectly between the wall of the closet and the far end of the room. It was small with very few amenities but Castiel found he rather liked it. It served its purpose sufficiently, no more, no less, and he thought he could appreciate that. 

      "Sorry about how small it is, most of the rooms are this way, gotta make room for everything else." Dean said. Castiel felt like he wanted to smile about the fact that Dean was concerned about room size for someone who wasn't even supposed to be on the ship in the first place, but thought it would be un-vulcanlike.

      Instead he said, "This will be sufficient. She is a good ship, Captain."

      Dean did smile then, wide and proud. "Thanks Cas, I like her too. She's my baby."

      _Cas..._ Castiel liked that. He had nicknames before, but he had always felt they were used in someway to make fun of him, Cas was different, friendlier.

     "Thank you for all your help Captain, hopefully it will be mutually beneficial."

     "You can call me Dean, it's not like you're part of my crew or anything.  Hell, half the crew calls me Dean too. I was never very good with formalities. They gave me shit at the academy for it, but you know, some things never change." Dean shrugged.

      "No, they do not."

 

 ...

 

     Castiel had been on the ship for a week and Dean was pleased to learn that the Vulcan was surprisingly good at an assortment of things. Two days after their first encounter in the Persephonia system, Dean had found him with the stellar cartographers; helping to map a part of space Starfleet had assigned them. A part of space Dean would probably never see.

      He had been looking for his strange guest and had walked into the astrometrics room to find the man surrounded by a star field projected from the dark ceiling. Cas had turned to Dean with his unusually blue eyes and Dean found that he had suddenly forgotten something that needed his attention elsewhere, anywhere else, on the ship and had made a hasty retreat. Cas may have been useful but it only took a few days for Dean to realize that Cas's constant stare made him feel like he was a book being read. Uncomfortable to say the least.

     Luckily, in Dean's professional opinion, he had a lot of things to take care of, or at least one really annoying thing. Because of the sandstorm, the suspicious Dr. Devereaux who, according to Charlie, had spent the entirety of the time Dean had been off the ship making accusations about being left stranded on the deserted planet. But, now that they had left the planet and Dr. Devereaux did not have his promised soil samples in hand he was angry for a whole different reason.

     "You know, Winchester, this treatment is getting really old. I don't know what your end game is-"

"End game?"

      "Yeah genius, end game. But I'm going to figure it out and blow your whole operation right out of the sky. "

     Dean took a deep annoyed breath and let it out. "Listen, I think we need to have a talk, you know, a heart to heart. Cause' this constant suspicion is really not working for me."

     Dr. Deveraux looked at Dean. "We'll maybe I wouldn't be so paranoid if right after you received a transmission from a mysterious source I'm pretty sure I would call Section 31, you basically coerce me under pain of death to go to some uninhabitable figurative scientific black hole in the middle of nowhere."

      Dean held up a hand and glared at the man. "Wait a sec, how'd you know about that?"

      "I think I would remember someone threatening my life."

      "No, not that. The section 31 crap."

      "Well it's not like I'm some run of the mill guy, I pay attention." Devereaux tapped his head as if to make a point. "I see things, and sometimes those things get me into trouble."

       Dean's sudden grin made Devereux take a step back. "Tell me everything you know about Section 31."

 

...

 

      Castiel found being around so many humans to be some concoction of strange, fascinating, and completely annoyingly incomprehensible. Castiel found Dean especially interesting; he was like a contradiction embodied in physical form. He was brilliant but seemed to dislike being thought of that way, completely and utterly selfless in one moment and the next the exact opposite. Castiel could look inside him, see the kind and gentle soul but couldn't reconcile it with the man's brashness and bravado and total and complete ignorance on matters about the people closest to him. He had sudden strokes of inspiration and almost seemed to be able to predict people with an uncanny accuracy but somehow didn't seem to think this was a talent to value.

      If Castiel had to hazard a guess, he would say that the man probably assumed he had just stumbled into his captaincy by luck and good relations and not because of his natural born talent as a leader. Castiel saw the way the crew looked at their captain, and he thought, even if he searched far and wide, he would be hard pressed to find so many people so loyal to a single individual. Castiel knew that Dean, bone deep, didn't think he was worth anything. He found himself wondering frequently how a person could be so brilliant and so utterly stupid at the same time.

     The door opened to the astrometrics department and in strode the man himself, a wide grin on his freckled face. "Cas." He said brightly. "I just got some great information that could definitely help us."

      Castiel turned towards Dean leaving the work of star charts alone for a while. He resisted the urge to pluck the information from the man's mind. Once that would have been as easy as breathing, but he could feel whatever was left of himself draining away, a slow leak that would eventually leave him dry and mortal. Besides, Castiel found the linear way of mortal beings surprisingly fascinating. He had always understood the idea of mystery in a logical sense but hadn't felt it for a long time, not since his family was together and not broken by war.

      "So I was talking to that crazy scientist Devereaux and he actually knows some shit if you wade through the conspiracy theories and all that." 

       Castiel nodded, walking around the desk he had been working on towards Dean. "What did you find out?"

      "Well, I think this thing called Section 31 is involved. All I had known about them before was just rumors, right? Well get this, Devereaux actually worked with them for a bit. It was a while ago but I'm sure things haven't changed so much that his Intel would be useless. Actually, I'm pretty sure some of its fresh, if I had to guess, I'd say that's where all the paranoid nonsense stems from. Apparently you don't just up and quit Section 31."

       Castiel considered this, knew that Dean was probably right about the scientist. He found himself surprisingly hopeful that Dean's father’s disappearance wasn't linked to Gabriel or Lucifer. However, Castiel was never one to get his hopes up without solid facts to back them up and he felt sure that John Winchester's disappearance was too closely linked with Gabriel.

        Dean talked to Castiel for a while, about Section 31. He told Castiel about their history, the scientist's accusations of their involvement in every major war since humans first set out into space. He told Castiel about the mysterious Bella who had told him she worked with his father, which meant that his father, his brave, and loyal, father had gone off with some group on the fringes of the law and had basically forsaken everything Starfleet had stood for. Dean had stopped talking then, suddenly quiet and Castiel knew instinctually that the man hadn't meant to bring up his father.

         "I am sorry that your father is missing, Dean Winchester, but I have found that when I cannot find the link between two related things, then there is more to it than I was first lead to believe. If you do not believe your father would have ties with such a group, then there is a reason for his involvement with them that must be missing."

        Dean looked torn between wanting to drop the conversation all together or succumb to Castiel's strange brand of hope. He sighed and looked at Castiel with a smile that didn't reach his eyes. "Not everything happens for a reason, Cas. Sometimes people do stupid shit just because they feel like it."

       Castiel thought of Anna, who had left the continuum even though she had promised she wouldn't and thought maybe Dean was right.

       "Maybe they do." He said, looking at Dean's guarded face and resisting the urge to look inside, to see what was happening in the man's head. "However, I do not think that is the case here. Your father joined with Section 31 and then sought out my brother, and now they are both missing. There is something missing here that we do not know. Until that time, when we find what that missing link is, I believe it would be the most logical decision to hold off on assumptions of your father's motivations."

     Dean took a deep breath, and his normal, brash smile was back on his face. "Yeah, your probably right Cas, but man, has anyone told you you're a little long winded."

     Cas tilted his head to the side. "Long winded?"

     "Yeah, you would have gotten along great with Tolkien."

     "Tolkien?" Cas said, finding himself more confused by the minute.

     "You know, that man could go on about one thing for 50 pages." Dean paused, evidently just realizing the confusion on Castiel's face. "Wait, don't tell me you haven't read Tolkien?"

     Castiel shook his head no.

     "Shit man, The Lord of the Rings is literally like the best thing next to Vonnegut."

     "You are fond of mid 20th century literature." Cas said, more as a statement than a question.

     "Hell yeah I'm _fond_ of it! Only 'cause it's the best! I can't believe they don't give you that shit on Vulcan. I guess you Vulcans are a little too stuffy." Dean said smirking.

     "That was a joke." Cas said, proud he'd realized it.

     "Well when you say it's a joke that's only proving my point." Dean said.

      Cas frowned. "I can see the logic in your statement. My siblings often told me I could be obtuse at times."

      "Maybe it's 'cause you use words like _obtuse_ in everyday speech."

      "I don't think that- oh, you're joking again."

       Dean clapped a hand to Cas's shoulder "Yeah Cas, yeah I am."

      Dean smiled wide and fond and Cas fought back the urge to smile along with him.


	6. Chapter 6

_Chapter 5:_

 

     Pelios Station had a long history, most of which Dean was fuzzy on. What he knew for certain was that although there were safe parts of the station that orbited the Pelios Star, those were few when compared to the places that didn't meet Federation standards of security. Sure, the bars and the gambling rings, and the large rooms of dancers were generally not the problem, however, the people who ran them were a different story entirely.

      Dean found himself wondering what anyone living here would know about Cas's lost brother. Over the two weeks it had taken the Impala to travel between Persephonia and Pelian, Dean had spent a considerable amount of time with his new Vulcan passenger. At first Dean regarded him as a security exercise. He hadn't thought that Cas would do anything to harm his ship or his crew, but Dean thought that he couldn't be too careful. In passing he had thought Sam would of been proud, but he tried not to think of the brother who had not answered his calls or messages in a long time.

     Dean had found that the more time he spent with Cas, the more time he wanted to. The Vulcan was so serious, and at times clueless, that he was surprisingly funny. Even better, Cas seemed just as amused by Dean and never minded Dean's jokes at his expense. Dean found that he wanted to know more about the man who was quickly becoming a close friend, but their daily conversations had never gone down that path. He thought that Cas might have not wanted to talk about his family with his brother missing. Dean had a sneaking suspicion that he was avoiding the topic, despite his interest, in part to the fact that it may lead to questions about his own family. He wasn't sure he wanted to talk to Cas about that.

     At least not yet.

     There was the unmistakable ring of someone at his door. "Come in." Dean said, turning back to look through his closet for some type of acceptable civilian clothing.

      "You always did have god awful taste in clothes," Dean turned to see Jo leaning in the doorway. Dean thought it was strange to see her in regular clothes, long pants and a wrap around jacket. Her hair was down; one side tucked behind her ear so her Bajoran earring showed. The silver metal caught the light.

      "How often have you seen me outside of my uniform, twice? Three times?" Dean said, raising an eyebrow.

      "It was definitely three, every time is seared into my brain." She said, laughing. She looked at him a moment longer before pulling the chair from his desk and sitting down. "Permission to speak freely?"

       "Of course."

       "I think you should think about bringing more people in on this than just you, me, and Castiel."

      "You don't trust him." Dean stated.

      "I don't not trust him, either. I just don't know anything about him, and neither do you really." She held up a hand before he could interrupt. "He's not what this is about anyway. You're an adult and you can pick you're own friends. But, Pelios can be a dangerous place if you wander into the wrong area. And since we are going to be walking head first into the wrong areas I thought it would be wise to bring someone else. I may be a master marksman and all, but, I really don't think three of us is enough if things go south."

      "Things won't go south."

      "You don't know that for sure." She sighed and leaned back in her chair. " I know you want as few people knowing about this as possible, but your whole crew trusts you, any one of them would come with you and not ask any questions."

      "I know that, Jo, I just don't want to drag anyone else into this mess, let alone get them killed for something I can't really tell them about. _You_ wouldn't even know if I had my way."

      She smiled. "Well you don't always get what you want. Your crew would be lost if something happened to you. I'm coming too, so that's the two highest ranked officers on the ship gone, worst case scenario. There are regulations for a reason, Dean. Take at least one other person. Tell them whatever you want about why we're here and I'll back you up." She crossed her arms and Dean could see the resolve on her face and knew he wasn't going to win this one.

     "Alright, alright, I'll take someone with us. I assume you had someone in mind?"

     "How about your security officer? That is what he's there for. To secure." Dean smiled abashedly. His security officer, yeah, that would make sense.

 

...

 

     Castiel arrived at the loading dock exactly at the time he had been told to come but found that the rest of the landing party was already there. His long coat made a swishing noise as he walked towards them and Cas already felt overly conscious of the civilian clothes Dean had suggested he pick out. Cas liked Vulcan clothing, it was sensical and well fitting. Dean however, hadn't shared his enthusiasm. He had said that he would stand out "like a sore thumb" on a place like they were going if he wore his standard fare of clothing.

      The underbelly of Pelios station was apparently not a place for upstanding Vulcans, or at least, Castiel thought, Qs trying to be upstanding Vulcans. So, Cas had picked something he thought looked decently human enough out of the replicator and found the brown "duster" ill-fitting and the pants too loose or too tight in all the wrong places. He had to admit Dean was probably right about human style boots. They were very comfortable.

       He could see Dean's amusement from halfway across the room. Dean's pants seemed to be of a similar style to his own but seemed to fit him like they should and looked normal with his leather jacket, even if the man did seem slightly uncomfortable out of uniform. Beside him stood Jo looking far more comfortable in her Bajoran style clothes.

      To the other side of Dean was someone Cas had seen in passing but had never actually spoken too. He was tall, though not as tall as Dean, and broad. Cas was sure this man could take a lot of people in a fight if he were forced to, but something about the calm set of his shoulders and his passive gaze told Cas that the man would probably rather stay out of a fight than start one. His short brown hair was hidden mostly by a cap (Cas thought they might be called a page boy...no _,_ a _newsboy_ cap), which had recently come back in style. The man's side burns and natural widow's peak were still evident under the cap, as was the shortly trimmed beard (was it called _scruff_ , maybe?) The man wore all black, which Cas thought, would make him look sufficiently threatening if he wanted to be. Though, right now he looked amicable enough, easy smile on his face.

      As Cas approached the man held out a hand and said, "I don't think we've met. Name's Benny Lafitte." The man had an evident southern drawl, Cas guessed from somewhere in the Deep South. Cas took the man's hand and shook it once before letting go.

     "You are the security officer." Cas said.

     "That I am. It's a good position, 'specially for someone like myself." Benny smiled.

     " You are coming with us as well?" Cas said looking to Dean briefly then back to Benny.

     "Yep." Dean said, breaking in "I don't know what to expect here, Benny is good in a tight situation. Isn't that right Lafitte?" Dean bumped his shoulder against the other man's who chuckled but wasn't budged.

      "He's the best security officer around." Jo said, " Don't know how he ended up on this dead end ship." Cas felt sad all of a sudden. He remembered a time when he had those kinds of conversations with his siblings. Easy bantering back and forth. Inside jokes shared and new ones created. But that had been too long ago, and he quickly reminded himself that it wasn't worth dwelling on.

     "Now, Cas, I have to ask, did you sleep in those clothes, or is that just the new style." Dean said grinning.

      Cas' brow furrowed. "The computer scanned me for my correct measurements and I picked something that seemed to look correct, but I do not think it worked."

      "You do look a bit... rumpled." Benny said, raising an eyebrow.

      "Oh, leave him alone." Jo said, obviously trying to hide her amusement. "Cas here obviously just really likes space westerns."

       Dean smiled and clapped a hand to Cas' shoulder. " Alright, alright, come on then Tex, we've got places to be."

 

...

 

     The docking station where they had landed was nice enough, it was full of stores with large plate glass windows, stands selling food, and a officer of some kind at every corner, all lit in bright white light. Cas knew that this wasn't where they needed to be, and all though he knew whatever they came across, save one of his siblings, would be no threat to him, he found himself with the strange desire to not put his three companions in any danger, Dean least of all. Cas told himself it was because the captain and his crew had been helping him but knew that wasn't the real reason at all.

     Benny, who had studied the maps of the station the most, led the way. They walked through the brightly lit corridors of the visitor part of the station before taking an abrupt right turn into and alley and the white lights were gone, replaced by intermittently spaced red and yellow ones. Castiel could feel the walls drummed with machines that kept the air pumping through the station and kept the lights on. He was amazed, as he always was with mortal beings, how very fragile they were, one wrong switch and they would die in the dark with no air so far from home. He was more amazed by the fact that they all decided to go out into places never meant for mortals and not just survive there, but thrive; creating homes in space that pulsed with their own life.

     The alleyway they were in led down, the air was humid here, unlike up at the top of the station, and the halls were narrow. Occasionally they past doorways into dimly lit rooms and pitch-black halls. Sometimes they ran into other living beings of no one species. Castiel saw no Vulcans, and only one human, who had eyed the party suspiciously before ducking into a low door and disappearing.

      "This is the least popular way down to where we need t' go. There are three stairwells goin' to the bottom of the station. But they're more crowded. Didn't think you'd be in the mood t' make friends." Benny said turning to wink at Dean.

      Dean didn't smile back; he looked too focused for that. "You know me too well." He said.

      As they neared the bottom of the corridor, Cas could here music thumping behind a wall. And further inside the spark of life that he was searching for.

     "This is where she will be." He said. It was the first thing he had said since they'd left the Impala.

     "You're information woman?" Dean said, looking to Cas. "How do you know?"

     "She thrives on this sort of atmosphere, she will likely be in some kind of high up position, so that she can watch. She will also likely see us coming in. Hopefully she will not know who we are. That could pose a problem."

     "I was afraid of that." Dean said. He looked between Jo and Benny. "Alright, plans?"

     "We go in as pairs, this is obviously some kind of club, people usually go to clubs on dates."Jo said. "That should be enough so we don't stand out. Benny, do you have a layout of this place."

     "Yes, ma'am." He pulled a PADD out of his jacket pocket, pushed a few buttons then held it out between them. "There's a small room with a bar off to the side here, it shouldn't be visible to anyone from the main area. We can meet up there."

      Cas pointed to a spot on the map. "She will likely be here in the VIP area. I assume she will have guards near here as well as friends. I would not be wise to underestimate either."

      "Your brother hangs out with some weird people." Jo said, raising an eyebrow. Both Benny and Dean's eyes fell on Cas, both with the same intrigued look of Jo.

     Castiel frowned; he had wondered when it would come to this. Choosing a Vulcan form seemed the most logical choice because of his own personality, however Gabriel was so different. Castiel assumed it would only be a matter of time before Dean or one of the crew started asking questions.

"My brother is unlike many vulcans." The words fell out of Cas's mouth without thinking. "He is V'tosh ka'tur, one without logic." He paused, eyes following on each of his companions in turn. "He does not follow the teachings of Surak."

      "So you're brother, he doesn't do the logic thing at all?" Dean said eyebrows raised in curiosity,

      "That is correct." Cas said looking over at Dean

      "Is that why he left?"

      Cas's brows furrowed and he looked down at ground. He was filled suddenly, with the memories of Gabriel's wild laughter as he played his jokes and taught Cas, and Anna, and Uriel his strange, alien games he had learned wandering the galaxy.

       "No, it is not," Cas said.

       Dean looked concerned, and opened his mouth to ask another question, but Jo placed a hand on his shoulder. "We need to get going, before someone sees us here and thinks we're suspicious." She said. Dean took one last look at Cas's bowed head before speaking.

       "Yeah, you're right, lets get a move on."

 

...

 

      Dean had decided to go with Cas; it wouldn't make sense for them to be separated when they were both here to talk to Cas's contact, or rather Gabriel's contact. Cas seemed sure that Dean's father's disappearance and Cas's brother’s disappearance were linked. Dean himself, generally skeptical about theories without hard proof, found himself drawn in by Cas's unwavering conviction, and felt, soul-deep, that Cas was correct. He had the sneaking suspicion that his new friend knew more than he was saying but didn't mention it.

      They got in line for the club a few people behind Jo and Benny. Dean didn't want to take any chances of them going in right behind one another and being spotted as a group. For being so close to information Cas looked completely passive, but Dean supposed he was a Vulcan after all, and it seemed Vulcan enough to be deep in thought. Truth be told, Dean had never spent much time around Vulcans. Tes'sa, the ship's doctor, was one but she had never been a huge fan of Dean's. He always found their conversations awkward and stilted when they had to have them. She was a damn good doctor though.

       The bouncer was a large Klingon man who seemed to be turning people away arbitrarily. Jo and Benny seemed to have no problem, the Klingon just glanced at them, bored, and waved them past. The next few people went in the same way, until finally it was their turn. The Klingon looked at them, and his gaze narrowed on Castiel.

       "What interest does a Vulcan have in a club?" He said suspiciously.

       "This man is my friend, it is his birthday. I am told it is a human tradition to celebrate on one's birthday, thus we are celebrating."

        Dean looked at Cas then back at the bouncer. "Yeah, what are you trying to do?! Ruin my fucking birthday!? Huh?" He crossed his arms for added effect. The Klingon shrugged and rubbed his head.

      "Fine, if a bunch of dumb petaQ's want to get drunk then who am I to stop them." The Klingon stepped aside from the door so Dean and Cas could walk by, Dean did notice however the suspicious stare of the man as Cas walked by.

     Dean was surprised he had thought the music was loud outside, in here, Dean could feel it in his bones and behind his eyes. He took a quick look around for the room he was supposed to meet Jo and Benny at but couldn't see it through the throng of dancing people in the low orange light. There were screens strung high up into the place's ceiling that showed the band currently playing, a tall bald man with a mustache and a small girl, paper thin and paper white with large black eyes beneath her spiked blonde hair. He looked over at Cas and found that the Vulcan seemed to be affected by the thumping sound the same as Dean. "Are you ok?" He shouted.

      Cas looked at him confused.

      "Are you ok?" He tried again before leaning close to his friends face. "Are you ok?” he said, noting absently how warm Cas was, when he was so close.

       "This music is very loud. I have never been to one of these establishments. Is this normal?"

      Dean laughed. "Music is loud but this is ridiculous." He paused; he couldn't help notice that even in this light Cas's eyes were startlingly blue. He couldn't remember ever seeing a Vulcan with blue eyes, he wondered if they were all this blue, or if that was just Cas. Dean also noticed, that the Vulcan didn't seem to notice the lack of personal space between them and wondered if Cas considered this normal. Dean on the other hand, a largely tactile person, felt each and every inch between them, and there weren't many. He reached up and placed a hand on Cas's shoulder before he realized it. Cas didn't flinch. "Do you remember where the room we are supposed to meet in is?"

        "I do, but it will be hard to get to it with so many people here.  I believe that we could try to skirt the side, but that may draw unnecessary attention, or we could walk straight through."

      Dean thought about it. "Let's go straight through, we can stop at the bar on the way so we look less suspicious." Cas nodded his agreement, his messy black hair looked orange in the room's lighting, as if it were on fire. Dean grasped Castiel's wrist so they wouldn't get separated in the crowd and started walking through the throngs of people to the bar at the far side of the room. This was easier said then done, he was stepped on bumbed into, even had a drink spilled on him before they were even halfway to their target but Dean never let go of Cas's hand. He was afraid what would happen to a Vulcan in a crowd of drunken aliens, it sounded like the beginning of a joke.

     Even in the stuffy room Dean was still getting a chill down his spine, something akin to the feeling he got in cover during a firefight when he knew the tide was turning. He didn't know of it was for better or worse. He brushed it off and concentrated on the blue neon lighted bar ahead, much closer than expected and the surprisingly warm weight of Cas's hand in his. When had that happened? He flexed his fingers ready to let go but didn't. He looked back at Cas and saw he was watching Dean closely instead of their location.

       Dean was suddenly back in the desert where they met, same blue eyes watching him, waiting. And Dean so willing to trust this stranger when every bit of training, every lesson his father ever taught him, told him not to. Maybe it was how lost Cas looked alone in the desert, his solitary figure back by the endless gold sands. Maybe it was how lost he looked now, surrounded by a crowd of people whose names neither of them would ever know. Maybe he was just projecting his own feelings onto Cas. Dean felt like that was something Sam would say.

     Dean turned back quickly and felt the brush of cool fresh air as they broke from the dance floor and neared their target. Dean let go of Cas's hand with little resistance. They both took a seat on the warm sticky barstool and Dean examined his view from here but still couldn't see the room where they were supposed to meet.  Not good. He should have been able to see it from here. Dean felt his heartbeat speed up, drumming away in his chest, and felt his mind clear. Something had gone wrong and he knew for certain that they had been made, some deep feeling in his chest told him so as his brain pumped him with adrenaline.

      "Are you gonna' order or not?" Dean whipped his head around to see an alien whose species he didn't recognize looking at him.

      "Uh, right, you have whiskey?" The man turned around to grab a bottle from among hundreds of others, grumbling something about humans and weird tastes. The man took one look at Cas and passed him a glass of clear shimmering liquid. Cas looked down at it then back up at the man. Who shrugged but kept the same deep frown set on his face then turned away.

     "I guess he knows what vulcans like." Dean said, voice even as he scanned the room again quickly.

      "Vulcans do not generally drink. It is very difficult for me to get drunk as well as it is illogical."

       Dean raised an eyebrow as he watched the bartender from the corner of his eye. He was serving another person but he felt the man's eyes on him. "Exactly." Dean said, raising his glass of amber liquid. "Cheers, Cas. Or do you not do that on Vulcan?"

       "Dean, I don't think-" but Dean had already downed most of his drink. A little whiskey wasn't going to mess him up. Besides that bartender was still watching. Cas took his clear shimmering thing and did the same.

       "I'll be fine Cas." He said, noticing the man's raised eyebrows and wide eyes. Very non-Vulcan like if you asked him. But who was asking him any way, and-

     Dean took a deep breath and his world spun. So much for being undercover he thought as he teetered precariously over his chair. Cas was apparently the only steady thing in his vision right now; the Vulcan's blue eyes glowed in the neon light unnaturally. He reached out a hand to him.

     "Cas I don't think that was whis-" he said before he fell backwards into the dark.

 

...

 

     "Don't move." Someone from behind Castiel said as he bent to pick Dean up off of the floor. Cas didn't need to turn around to see the tall trill woman behind him. She had lived a long time, both the symbiote inside her and the trill herself. He saw her excel at sports as a child, saw her win every race she ever competed in. Saw her apply for the symbiote program, saw her sheer happiness when she was accepted. She had feared it was only scientists and politicians who were chosen. She was smart sure but she was better at running, at fighting. She had a different name then, but that was long ago. Her name was Athena here, her symbiote and her now totally in sync. But most of all Cas saw that she was mortal, saw a place in her being where he could reach out and tear like fabric and she would be gone.

      He didn't though. Instead, he said "I need to get him off the floor, he probably hurt himself when he fell and it is likely someone will step on him where he is now." He paused and then added, "Your master wants to see both of us any how."The thumping sound of the music had died down for something slower and melodic. Cas was sure this was purposeful.

       He felt more than heard the trill say, "ok" as her voice vibrated the air around her. He knelt down, and picked up Dean easily. He was average weight for a human and for Castiel that was nothing.  He turned back to the trill; her hair was short and white blonde over gray eyes making the stark contrast of her dark spots even darker as they formed a line down her temples and her neck.

     Athena eyed him too, and he found confusion in her gaze. Why was her master, queen of Pelios station asking for a Vulcan and his human friend? And then there had been the other two. The Bajoran and the other human with the accent, smooth as silk. Athena had drugged them too. She had argued with her master about it, insisted she could take out all of them easily without resorting to drugs. But her master had lowered her eyes in annoyance and suggested that maybe she didn't want them dead and half the bar destroyed. Athena hadn't said anything after that.

     She turned her head away from Castiel quickly and started walking up a long flight of stairs at the end of the bar, past two armed Klingon bouncers. The second floor seemed to be a VIP area of sorts with nicer tables, long cushioned black couches that lined the wall opposite the bar, and pulsing lights in red and orange and yellow like fire. Athena walked past this and around the bar where a door had been built into the wall. Invisible completely unless you knew what you were looking for. Athena knew what she was looking for.

     Once the door closed, the music from the bar was completely cut off, leaving Castiel's ears ringing with the silence. Something he wasn't used to in a corporeal body. There were couches in this room too; the same as outside, and on them lay Jo and Benny, evidently taken out the same way as Dean. Castiel looked up to find Athena gone. He carefully laid Dean down on one of the couches and looked around at the room.

      The lighting was softer than the harsh neon oranges outside and the walls were painted a charcoal gray. Beneath Cas's feet there was a glass floor filled with fish from all over the galaxy, carrying the multiple colors of their home worlds. This all made sense to Castiel. A safe quiet getaway for the station's unofficial queen. What didn't make sense were the large screens that hung intermittently throughout the room and that had now just flickered to life.

        On every screen the same human woman appeared. Dark amber skin and wavy dark brown hair. She wore red lipstick that matched her red dress. She wore a necklace too, off of each link in the chain hung a polished silver human skull. She watched Castiel from so many different screens; her golden eyes following his every movement.

       "Kali." Castiel said.

       "I'm afraid you have me at a disadvantage. Your friends were easy." Her eyes flickered over to Dean, then to Jo and Benny. "The captain of the Starfleet ship Impala, Dean Winchester, his science officer, Jo Harvelle, and his security officer Benny Lafitte. Their identities were simple enough to ascertain. Their motives and your identity however, I had difficulty with. You are not what you appear to be Vulcan. Or that drink I had served to you would have had you on the floor with your captain."

         Cas tilted his head to the side and resisted looking over at Dean. "You aren't what you appear to be either. Otherwise you'd be standing in front of me, instead of your holographic projection on the screen." Kali frowned eyes never leaving Castiel's.

      "How did you know? Most people think I'm off station." She chuckled, a strange menacing sound. "Or strangely eccentric."

      Cas didn't laugh. "Because you would never leave the station and if you had already incapacitated my friends and me, you would be here, you would have won."

       The woman smiled, showing a row of perfect white teeth. "So we are both not what we seem. And I'm going to hazard a guess and say that you are seeking me out for a specific reason, not just to annoy me."

     "I'm looking for my brother."

     "And what makes you think I know where he is? Or that I would tell you if I did?"

     "Because my brother does not keep many friends for long, it took time but I eventually tracked down the friends he did decide to keep." Cas tilted his head "You were the most important." Kali watched him eyes narrowed, but said nothing. "My brother has gone by a hundred different names, he came to you first as Loki, and left you as Gabriel." Kali's frowned deeply. "Do you know who my brother is now?"

       "And who are you then, your kind take many shapes, Q."

       Cas was surprised Gabriel had told this woman the truth, it didn't seem like his knew self, always running, always lying. Cas decided to tell her the absolute truth as well. He felt that he wouldn't convince her otherwise. "My name is Castiel, I need to find him. It may be the most important thing I ever do."

       "Castiel..." Kali broke eye contact with him through her screen. Cas wondered how it was done, the image of the beautiful human woman was seamless, but Cas knew otherwise. Could see up into the heart of the station, see the secret room behind the pipes and the controls, he could see the heat of the room radiating outward into the cool reaches of the Pelios. He saw Kali there in her true form; saw the holographic projection linked in beneath the clear glass like outside of her body, inside the orange molten core. Some might say she was spider like, Castiel instead wondered how such a territorial species wound up so far away from home. So far from the reaches of Tholian space.

        "I've heard your name before, Q." Kali said, gold eyes returning to him.

        "Gabriel spoke of me?"

        "He spoke of many of your kind." She paused. Deliberating.  "But yes, he did. You're very far from the continuum for one so young."

        "It seems we have more in common than just our looks then, Kali."

        "Little Q's should keep their eyes to themselves."

        Castiel ignored the warning in her voice, the fake smile on her face. "Your kind don't leave often from your part of space. But you've been here for a long time." Castiel looked back up into the room were Kali really was and knew she was angry with him. "You have no intention of leaving either."

         Kali looked angry, ready to call out to her guards, or to climb down and deal with Castiel herself.

        "My brother really loved you, didn't he?" Castiel said, it was the first thing in his mind, he didn't want to fight the station to get Dean, and Jo, and Benny out safe. Kali's image on the screen jolted suddenly. The screen flickering white then resolving back into the picture of the human woman.

         "How? I didn't feel you in my mind..."

         "I wasn't. But I know my brother, he set you up here, gave you resources, I can see his mark on the station when I look closely." Castiel's brows furrowed. " Gabriel had been on the run for a long time, he never stays anywhere for long. But he stayed here, with you. The only answer would be that he must love you. " Kali's face on the screen looked torn between anger, and sadness, and the joy of hearing about Gabriel.  "He would not have just left you if he felt that way. You must know where he is."

         Kali had resumed her defiant air. "Even if what you say is true, why would I tell you. I know about your war, Gabriel doesn't want any part of it. He protected me when my people exiled me, I will do the same for him, no matter what."

      "This is not just about hiding anymore. Lucifer has returned. I'm sure he told you about Lucifer. He will destroy everything he touches just to return home." Castiel looked down at Dean who looked as if he was peacefully sleeping on the couch. " That means you too, Kali. And when he inevitably finds Gabriel and Gabriel doesn't side with him, Lucifer will kill him too. Help me stop him. I need to find Gabriel."

        Kali looked down, and was quiet for a long moment. A smile flickered across her red lips.  "I was a commander in our military on my world, then I was a criminal, then I was exiled. In all that time Gabriel has been the only being I have met to look at me without fear. He is a loyal and generous friend even when I didn't deserve it. He spoke of his family often, of a time before the war. He always said you had the naïveté and optimism of a young child. When you told me your name, I didn't believe you... You know, you are so much different than he described." She paused, looking across to the one's from Starfleet passed out on her couch. "But you have not changed so much as you think you have." She looked back up at him golden eyes meeting his blue. "I will give you what you seek."

        "Thank yo-"

        "No thanks are necessary, I'm not doing this for you but for Gabriel who helped me when I needed him. If he asks tell him I'm returning the favor."

        " I will."

        "Castiel, two things before I go. My guards thought I brought you in here to kill you. When you walk back out, they'll think something is wrong. You may have to fight your way out, nothing you can't handle, but try not to hurt them too badly."

         "And the second thing?"

         "You haven't spent much time with humans so I'll say it simply. They are more complicated than you think they are. Your kind tends to make that mistake. There are whole worlds inside each of them. This one "she nodded her head towards Dean "your captain, he trusts you now but his past does not lead him to trust easily. When he finds out what you are, don't expect him to accept it. If I were you, I would leave before he finds out." She looked at him for a moment longer, her face unreadable, then the screen was black and he was alone.

 

...

 

     Dean awoke slowly. His head was spinning, or maybe it was the room, and there was a piercing pain behind his eyes like an ice pick slowly being driven into his soft squishy brain. He tried to sit up but his limbs shook and he fell back with a thump onto the...couch?

     How did he get on a couch? He attempted to look around and was grateful that at least the light was soft in here. The room was filled with black screens, which he filed away as odd, and across from him were Jo and Benny, the latter of which wasn't moving. Jo had her head in her hands though and seemed to be attempting to get up and reach for her phaser at the same time. He looked up to find Castiel awake and fully conscious staring at him with his wide blue eyes.

        Dean swallowed and thought _damn him and those blue eyes._ Castiel, voice gravelly, said, "What is your condition? Are you alright?"

        "Aside from being on a roller coaster while my brain crawls out through my ears, I'm fine."

        Castiel continued to stare. "That does not seem like an accurate representation of fine."

        "Jesus, I guess you don't understand sarcasm do you, Cas?" He tried to laugh but found that his throat felt like it had been on fire a few seconds before. "Guess I'll have to teach you." Cas nodded but didn't move. " Are you ok?"

      Cas's brows furrowed. "I am fine. Vulcan physiology has a higher metabolism than humans, I have processed whatever was put in our drinks faster than you, Jo, or Benny."

      "Figures." Cas was still hovering over him and Dean's brain also had decided to supply that his new Vulcan friend had other nice features besides his eyes and it was starting to make Dean uncomfortable. "Hey Cas?"

       "Yes, Dean?"

       "Can you go check on Jo and Benny, I don't think I'm quite ready for the moving stage."

       Cas stared at him for a minute longer before nodding and walking over to the opposite side of the room. Dean watched Cas lean down and speak softly to Jo, as he had done for Dean, then lean over to lightly shake Benny, who stirred and then groaned loudly. Cas said something to him as well but Dean couldn't make it out and instead decided to turn his head away and close his eyes till he felt a little better. No point, in forcing himself up and making a stupid mistake because he felt like shit.

        Only problem was his brain's decision to assault on him. The image of Cas leaning over him, brows furrowed and eyes concerned, or a concerned as a Vulcan got. It's not like Dean hadn't been with men before, or found them attractive or anything. Maybe not Vulcan men, but all the vulcans he had met had been severe and didn't have Cas's messy dark hair and blue eyes. Dean had to admit he really liked Cas's blue eyes.

     Under another circumstance, maybe Dean would have pursued Cas, he wasn't sure if Vulcan's were into random recreational sex, he didn't think so, but it was worth a shot at least. But this was certainly not a good time. His father was missing, his brother seemed to have decided he preferred the Vulcan Science Academy to his father, and Dean was being contacted by weird secret organizations. Definitely not a good time. Add to that the uncertainty of how long Cas would be hanging around and Dean was sure. Propositioning Cas would not be a good thing right now. Probably ever. Best not to think about it.

      Dean was way to fond of one night stands to even think of pursuing someone who was helping him with his missing father problem, plus, aside from Dean's uncertainty about Vulcan regular sexual practices, he was smart enough to know coming on to Cas would probably be at least awkward and at worst offensive, and that certainly wouldn't be good for his current mission. Or, his brain supplied helpfully, their budding friendship.

      "You alright, or did you want to keep sleeping?" Dean opened his eyes to find Jo's storm blue ones, her dirty blonde hair had been tied back in a ponytail and she appeared to be sizing him up, it was the same look she gave him when they sparred together in the holo deck.

      "Yeah..." Dean attempted to sit up, his stomach lurched uncomfortably, but he pushed through it. "Yep, see I'm up. How are you standing so well?"

      "Dunno, guess its good to be a Bajoran right now, huh?" She smiled and pushed against his shoulder lightly, careful not to push him down.

      "I'm fine, if any one wanted t' know." Benny practically growled from across the room.

      " I believe the effects of whatever you were given will wear off rather quickly, as Jo already seems to be in good health." Cas said.

     " _Almost_ in good health, pretty boy...What are you doing?"

     " I am examining the file systems. We were brought to this room but nothing has happened. Something apparently has not gone according to plan."

     Jo walked over to where Cas had pulled a panel off of the wall. Dean watched her lean in close to Cas. She had been an engineer before she was his first officer and she was still damn good at it. Occasionally she looked up and asked a question of Cas in a hushed tone before leaning back in to examine the wall.

      "I don't like this." Benny said, eyeing the only door in the room. "Somethin's not right."

      "Yeah, I'm right there with you." Dean said, his head slowly clearing to allow normal cognitive function.

      "I mean, what's their game? Why knock us out, throw us in a room, and then nothin'. They didn't even take our phasers or communicators or anything." Benny said, picking his hat off the floor and putting it back in place on his head.

      "It's not like the communicators work, signal's jammed." Dean said. "But we did expect that. Besides is the door even open?"

       "No, I checked it as soon as I was back on my feet, captain." Jo called from across the room. "However, I think I can get it open when you're ready."

       "We still don't have the information we came for." Dean said.

       "That may be a lost cause about now. They made us as soon as we walked in." Benny said, annoyance seeping into his tone.

        "That was always a chance, even with civilian clothes, our Federation starship is kind of docked outside." Dean frowned. It's not like they'd had another option as far as transportation went though. He thought about the information, a key to finding his father, and he thought about his crew. He was dealing with a faceless enemy here, for all he knew, the Queen of Pelios station had decided to leave them here to rot. And that put not only his away crew in danger, but his ship as well.

           "We need to get out of here. Everyone have your phasers out, set to stun for now. Be ready. Jo, on my signal open the door."

          "Yes, sir." Jo and Benny said in almost perfect unison. He turned to look at them, to make sure they were ready for a fight if it came to that, and found Cas staring at him, his face was blank, unreadable, but he nodded and pulled out the phaser Dean had given him from the ship. He turned back, pulled out his own phaser and got into cover next to the door. Benny had crouched on the other side and Jo and Cas could easily reach behind the couches if they got shot at immediately.

 

      "Open the door."


	7. Chapter 7

_Chapter 6:_

   

      Going down the silent hallway had been easy. When the door opened Cas had a moment of hope that Kali had been lying to him and everyone would be gone. But then he heard them downstairs, in the dim light, quietly getting ready to destroy Dean and his friends. Dean turned back around to look at them as they neared the stairs that would lead to the main part of the bar. 

     "It's a little to quiet in here for my taste." He whispered. Both Jo and Benny pulled up their phasers.

     "Didn't take you for a thumping party scene kind of guy." Jo whispered back. Dean smiled but said nothing. He closed his eyes and listened. One moment passed, then another, then another. He turned back to them; index finger pressed against his lips and motioned them to move forward down the stairs.

      Cas had lived a long time and had been in his share of fights, but they always seemed to surprise him. This was no different. There was complete and utter silence, each of the party's breaths seemed as loud as gunshots in the dark. Then suddenly the room erupted in a hail of phaser fire. The walls shook with the sound of it.

     Dean had jumped from the cover at the end of the stairs to a table he promptly over turned. Jo and Benny followed quickly. Benny got off a few shots at their attackers before ducking behind the overturned table. Cas closed his mortal eyes and _saw_ behind the wall of the stair he was still crouched behind. Counted fifteen people firing at them. Saw two go down. Benny had shot those. Saw another two drop. Hit by phaser blasts from Dean and Jo. Dean looked back to Cas and motioned him forward. Cas could see the adrenaline running through his body, making his head clear and his eyesight sharp.

        Cas made the jump, closing the gap between him and Dean.

        "We can't stay here." Benny said between shots over the table.

       "The exit isn't too far. We can make a run for it." Jo said, ducking just in time for a blast from one of their attackers to just graze her cheek. "Son of a bitch." She yelled leaning forward to grab a glass that had fallen on the floor. She chucked it over the table. Cas heard the glass crack against one of their attackers skulls. Jo had heard it to, and was smiling. "Serves them right."

       "Does anyone know how many there are?" Dean said.

       "There are ten left." Cas said. "There were fifteen." He added after a minute.

       "We can take 'em,” Benny laughed, smiling so wide it showed a row of long white teeth."

       "I don't think so." Dean smiled. " We've got shit to do, we can't hang around here all day playing with these amateurs. " He looked towards the door. "If we run around this beam here we can duck under that table and then it's just a few feet to the door. After that we're off, scott-free."

       They all nodded. Dean was the first to duck behind the beam then Jo. Benny was still firing; Cas noticed they didn't seem to be firing towards Dean or Jo. "They can't see us, we can't see them." Benny said looking over at Cas. "Better get a move on, pretty boy, unless your going to take out all these guys by yourself. "

       "You also need to leave." Cas said.

       "You sure do like to stare, huh? It's kinda weird y'know." He leaned up and fired another shot off. "I'll be right behind you."

       Cas nodded, then turned around and followed Dean. Cas ducked behind the beam. Taking a moment. Time slowed. Their were nine left and Benny looked like he had no intention of moving. He looked towards their exit and found what he thought he'd find. It had been locked. Kali hadn't been lying when she said that he could handle her guards. That was good. It was easy to open the lock. He could see its shape; it's inner workings from here. He reached out to it, and felt it break.

       One thing down. Now Benny. He looked around for a way to block Benny's assault. Cas was sure that was the only way he would follow. He saw the circuits behind the bar that controlled the lights and music. He pulled at them, his mind reaching out past the mortal coils of his body, and felt them explode one by one.

       Falling back into himself, into time was difficult and shocking. It left him breathing heavily, heart pounding. He heard the explosion happen, it lit the room up and he could see everything in stark contrast, the off white color of the walls without the neon light, the pealing paint on the stairs, the cool metal floor. He heard glass exploding from the heat not so far away. And intense pressure like sound and air rushing towards him and something hard and substantial and very real glide past his face, across his cheek as it went singing past him into the wall.

        Dean was suddenly crouched above him. Cas was struck by the realization that he had fallen as he looked up into Dean's freckled face. Cas' bones ached. "You ok?" Dean said, his words sounded far away as if they were underwater. Cas nodded and pushed himself off the cool floor. "Come on!" Dean said no longer looking at him, but instead towards where Benny was. Dean's hands were on his shoulders, wrapped around his waist, pulling him upward. " We have to go now." Dean said and Cas was glad to find that his senses were returning to normal and Dean didn't sound so far away.

      "What happened?" Jo said looking from where the fire was consuming the bar then at Cas."

      "Don't know." Dean said. "That explosion did a lot of damage, though. I think Cas got hit by something."

      Jo looked at him closer. The cut on her cheek was slowly seeping blood but she seemed ok. "I think he'll live. Just a little shocked." She said, walking forward to grab him from the other side, wrapping her hand around his waist the same way Dean was. Together they started walking for the door. Benny taking up the rear.

      They can out of the bar on a different side than they had come in. The hall was dim but quiet. It seemed the explosion hadn't affected the outside of the bar. Cas wondered absently if Kali had some type of safety measures for this kind of thing. There were a few people milling around who looked at them suspiciously but kept walking.

     "This way, it's the quickest and it doesn't seem like anyone is followin' us." Benny said walking quickly to overtake Dean and Jo and Cas. Dean nodded.

       "Lead the way."

       As they walked down the scarcely populated hall, Cas could feel his bones mending slowly and their footsteps on the ground no longer sounded strange and hollow on the smooth floor. Benny after looking behind him to make sure everyone was still with him, turned sharply to the left, holding the door open for everyone behind him.

       Inside was a brilliantly lit white staircase that stretched upward unbroken. Dean and Jo bent down and placed Cas on one of the stairs. "Jo, try to get Charlie on the comm. ASAP. Benny make sure no one has the opportunity to walk through that door." Dean said before kneeling to look at Cas. "Whatever hit you, hit you good. You're going to be bruised up for a while."

      "I think it was a pipe of some kind." Cas said, his voice coming out more gravelly than usual.

      "Let me see." Dean reached his hand forward, placing his fingers gently beneath Cas's right eye. Cas winced without meaning to, the pain searing him unexpectedly. " Yep, like I thought, it's pretty bad, it's swelling already." Cas watched Dean's green eyes tracking the damage on his face. "Good news is, I don't think you broke anything. Lucky for you, that pipe missed your eye by about a half an inch. Who knows what would have happened if it was better at aiming." Dean smiled at him. "We'll get you to the med bay as soon a we're off this god forsaken station." He patted Cas lightly on the shoulder before turning to look at Jo.

     "How's that cut doing?"

     "It's nothing. It stopped bleeding pretty quickly. I don't think it'll be an issue a little anti-septic can't fix" She winked at him before returning to her communicator.

      Dean nodded. "Benny?"

      "Doin' good captain. Door's blocked off. Nowhere to go but up."

      "Good work." He turned back to Cas. "Can you stand?"

     "I believe so." Cas answered. He pushed himself off the stairs and found that gravity, something he had never taken any particular notice of, was not his friend today. It worried him a little, how his wounds hadn't healed immediately, how he had been able to be hurt by a metal pipe in the first place. He knew what it meant, knew the signs. His decision to meddle in time to keep Dean and his friends safe had used up more of his powers than he thought. He was losing his connection to the Continuum at an alarming rate. He wasn't sure how much longer he could hold off, but knew, if he didn't, it wouldn't matter in the end anyway.

      Dean watched him carefully as he regained his balance. It was difficult, and even though he hadn't healed immediately, he was healing slowly. He could worry about repercussions later. "Have you got Charlie on the comm?" Dean said to Jo but keeping his eyes on Cas as if he thought Cas was going to drop any second. The way Cas felt, he wouldn't have been surprised if he fell flat on his face either.

       "Not yet, they've got a good jammer. Luckily I'm better." She said eyes never leaving the device in her hand. "Sometimes I wish we had the old communicators. You know those big ones. Much easier to work with than these tiny things." She brushed some strands of her blonde hair out of the way and sighed heavily.

     " I don't think we should stay here." Benny said. "They're gonna find us eventually and, frankly, I don't want t' be here when they do."

     "Yeah, I'm right there with you." Dean said. "Jo can you do that while we walk."

     "Yes sir."

     "Cas, you ready to go?" Cas was indeed not ready to go, he felt like he wanted to fall asleep, a practice he was getting dangerously used, but, he didn't want to get stuck in this stairwell if someone did find out where they were.

      "I am ready, Dean."

      "Alright people, move out. Benny take the lead, since you've got the map memorized and all."

      They walked for a while in silence before they came to a landing with a door on either side. Cas tried to see what was beyond those doors and what lay at the top of the stairwell but it made his head swim and his vision double. He swayed on his feet and Dean grabbed his shoulder wordlessly, steadying him.

       "Well, we can keep going up, but I don't recommend it. It'll probably take us farther than we want t' go." Benny said. "If we take the left door it's not too terribly far to and elevator, but the place is pretty populated. It's a good chance someone will spot us and then we might as well be right back where we started. " Benny shrugged. "We can go right but it’s a long way to the next stairwell we'd have to climb to get up to the top of the station. "

        "No easy way out." Dean said. His brows furrowed for a moment before saying " We go left, hopefully Jo can get a hold of Charlie before it becomes and issue."

        "Yes, sir." Benny said and opened the door, leading them out into a long boulevard. There was a bank of windows on their left, appearing to span the entirety of the long room. Small kiosks littered the street, selling an array of different goods. As Benny had said, there were many more people than they had seen since they had walked into Kali's bar. It all seemed peaceful but Cas was getting an uneasy feeling. He looked to Dean who appeared to be uneasy as well.

        "Jo, have you got Charlie yet?"

        "I think we're almost out of jamming range, I think...I've-Yes!" A smile lit up her face. "Commander Harvelle to Lieutenant Bradburry. Charlie! Do you read me?"

         A cracklings sound came out of her communicator, "Goddamit! Jo? Jo is that you? I've only been trying to get a hold of you forever! You totally dropped of the grid."

        "We need to be beamed out now! Think you can do it?"

        "Yeah, right, beam out, your signal is unclear. Just give me a minute. And I'll-"

        Cas saw her before anyone else. He wished it had been his Q powers but it was really sheer luck and the fact he'd seen her before. The Trill, Athena. She was walking towards them, a long metal rod in hand, her short white blond hair was messy and there were ashy smudges on her cheeks and clothes. He wondered if she had been in the bar during the explosion. Before he thought about it he reached out to Jo grabbing a handful of her shirt and pulling her towards him. She looked at him, shock and annoyance appearing or her face. The trill had swung her metal rod towards where Jo had been, imbedding it in the tiled floor where it smoked and started melting the floor around it.

           Despite the fact that she had been pulled away, Jo reacted quickly, firing off a blast from her phaser that grazed the trills shoulder before she ducked suddenly out of the way. Dean and Benny had both pulled their phasers out as well and were firing at the trill who moved like water around them, charging ever forward towards Dean. The people walking the boulevard had noticed the fight and were running decidedly away from it. Some of the kiosk owners had ducked beneath their kiosks hoping the hard surface would hide and protect them. Cas ran at the trill before he knew what he was doing, tackling her to the floor. He quickly rolled out of the way to avoid the heated end of her metal rod, which left melted dents in every tile she hit. She said nothing but she had a smile on her face, as if fighting Castiel was the most fun shed had in a long time.

      Cas thought he heard Dean call his name from somewhere in front of him, but he was to busy trying to avoid the trill's attacks. He had regained his feet but kept having to jump back or duck under her metal rod. He knew the wall behind him was coming up soon and he had to think of something. Some type of clay pot flew out of nowhere and smashed against the trill's head.

      "Hey!" Jo said, another pot in hand. "I'm a lot more fun than he is." Athena was suddenly gone and he took a deep breath before turning to find Jo. Jo had smashed another pot against the trill's head but it had only slowed her down. Jo though, was a better fighter then Cas had thought. She moved easily around the trill both barely missing each other. Cas looked over and found Dean working on a communicator, trying to get it to work and Benny digging though a kiosk seemingly trying to find a weapon. His phaser lay in two melted pieces on the floor next to Dean's.

       Cas had to do something. Jo was good, yes, but Cas had the feeling that in the end Athena was better. Jo had knocked the rod out of the trill's hands, but she regained it far too quickly. Benny had pulled a Bat'leth out of the kiosk and had started to run towards the trill. But, Athena had knocked Jo of her feet and was now attempting to stab the end of her metal rod at Jo. Cas closed his eyes, took a deep breath and focused on the communications jammer. He found it, hidden beneath a panel in the floor above the bar. He took another deep breath, he could feel a searing pain in his head but he reached out for the jammer and it broke suddenly. He opened his eyes and everything was dark and blurry. From a long way away he heard the crackle of the communicator and Charlie's voice. "I've got you now!"

     Being beamed up felt strange to Cas, like floating in water and then being nothing at all.

  

...

 

        Dean had never been so happy to find himself in the transporter room of his ship. He'd also never been so happy to be off a space station. Their whole plan had gone to hell, he didn't know how the powers of Pelios Station knew exactly where he and his away team would be or what the reason for knocking them out and locking them in a room was, but he could figure that one out later. That and what to do about the information they didn't retrieve.

He looked over to find Jo a bit bruised up but not to bad. She smiled at him widely, wiping some blood off her forehead. Benny appeared holding a Bat'leth he had found somewhere while Dean was trying to get them off the station. The man looked ready for a fight until he realized he was standing on the transporter pad, back on the ship. Cas, who had appeared behind them, looked dazed and swayed heavily on his feet.

          "You alright there, Cas?" Cas shook his head from one side to the other as if he was shaking water out of his pointed ears. He took a deep breath and looked up at Dean.

         "I believe I am fine." He said, one eyebrow tilting upward. Jo reached out and grabbed his shoulder and turned him to her. 

         "You don't sound so sure." She studied his face, a frown setting into her own.

         "You should probably go on down to see the doctor." Benny said. He looked at Jo. "You probably should too, Jo."

          "Oh, the blood on my forehead isn't mine." She said never looking away from Cas.

         Dean sighed. " I think we can all use a trip down there. Just to be safe." Jo looked like she was about to argue but decided against it.

          "Yes, Captain."

         There was a beeping noise, then Charlie's voice flooded over the comms. "Hey, Captain, there's a transmission coming in. I, uh, think you need to see it."

          "On my way." Dean looked at his crew. "You three, sickbay, now. Have our doctor take a look. I don't want you back on active duty until she sees you. " He narrowed his eyes and pointed at them each in turn, then turned and walked out.

          Back on the bridge Charlie was seated in his chair looking the most uncomfortable he'd seen her since she had first stepped on the ship. She was wearing her yellow engineering uniform, jacket and all, which was unusual, considering when she was actually in engineering she never wore it. She said it distracted her from her work. Her wavy red hair was down, but looked like she had been through a windstorm.

          "Dean, you know I'm really not good at the command thing, I mean that's not what you hired me for and it didn't look so hard but really I'd rather stick to the computers and the engine and-" she said all in one breath. He smiled and held up a hand to stop her.

         "Rough day?"

        "You’re telling me. I mean it was all fine and dandy for a few hours after you left and then I couldn't get any of you on the comms, and really everything just went to hell after that." She said, running a hand through her long red hair. "Any way, I'll actually write the report and all so you can read about it but first, there is a lady who wants to speak with you."

         "You made it sound like it was a life of death sort of thing."

        "Well it is, she says she's the Queen of Pelios Station, and that you were looking for her. I might not have believed her but she came in over our secure channel. I can't even figure out how she got access to it. "

         "Alright, put her through."

        The view screen flickered to life and a woman with long wavy brown hair appeared on the screen. Her eyes were gold and she wore a crimson red dress, she smiled, her lips the same color as the dress and said. " Hello, Captain Dean Winchester, we finally meet." Dean would've have thought her one of the most beautiful people he'd ever seen if he hadn't known who she was. Drugging people and locking them in rooms wasn't really a turn on for him.

       "I'm not sure I'd call this a meeting, but I'll bite. I'm guessing you’re the infamous Kali."

       "That's right, at least you didn't walk into my station totally unprepared, though as far as covert operations go, maybe next time you'll leave the Starfleet ship at home, hmm?"

        "What do you want?" Dean said.

        "It's not what I want. Last time I checked you tore up half my station looking for me."

        "Yeah, we'll maybe next time, you might try a different brand of hospitality. You know, instead of drugs and a bunch of guys with weapons."

       "None of your crew was hurt. That's more than I can say about mine. That explosion was an interesting trick. How did you do it?"

       "Hell if I know. I was assuming one of yours hit something they weren't supposed to." The woman raised an eyebrow and narrowed her gold eyes.

       "I see. But that isn't really important. I didn't contact you to argue with you, I contacted you to offer you a deal."

       Dean frowned walking towards the screen. "What kind of a deal."

       "I know you came here for information, I saw it in your ship logs."

       Charlie stood up from her chair suddenly. "That's impossible, no one gets past my system without me knowing."

       The woman tilted her head to look at Charlie. "Don't feel too bad. You're good, really good. If you weren't so loyal, I'd offer you a job with me. " She smiled. "I've been around a lot longer than you have. Come back in about ten years, and we can try again." She turned back to Dean. "As I was saying, I know what information you came for, and I'm ready and willing to give it to you."

        "What's the price?"

        "Quid pro quo." She said smiling.

        "What?"

         "For you, Dean Winchester, maybe I should phrase it, I'll show you mine if you show me yours."

         "My what?" Dean said, with the sneaking suspicion he didn't like where this was going.

         She sighed. "I want to know the reason you want this information. Last time I checked, it's only relevant to one person on your ship."

          "What? Your scans couldn't tell you that?"

          She brushed back a strand of her dark brown hair and smiled. "I thought it might be inappropriate to read your personal logs." Dean looked at her for a long moment. So far the details of what he was doing where only known to four people on his ship. Cas, Jo, Devereaux, and himself. He had hoped the secrecy would keep his crew safe in case Starfleet decided that running off in a military vessel to save his father was not a good choice. He didn't want any of them to suffer for his choices. But with things going the way they were going, maybe it'd be best for them to know after all.

          "Fine, you've got yourself a deal. Charlie, open the comm to the whole ship, there is an announcement I need to make." Charlie looked at him for a second before nodding.

         "Yes sir, comm is open."

         "Attention, this is your captain speaking. A couple of weeks ago I was contacted by a woman named Bela Talbot. She said she works for an organization called Section 31 with my father. Now for those of you not familiar with this organization, let me fill you in. It's a technically non-existent part of our government that works behind the scenes and outside the law to stop any one who would interfere with or pose a threat to the Federation.

I know sounds ridiculous. But facts are facts. This woman told me my father had gone missing while investigating something he didn't keep specific logs of. Apparently he had been operating on his own for some time. She enlisted my help to find him and bring him back. That's why we went to the Persephonian system, to find the last person he saw, and why we are at Pelios Station. I don't take going to these places without Starfleet's permission lightly, but my father needs to be found. I need to know what was so important he had to go outside the law to do it.

     Anyone, not wanting to come on this mission with me, is free to leave. I will drop you off closer to home where you can book safe passage to the location of your choosing. Captain, out." Dean looked over to Charlie, who was watching him closely, green eyes wide. She looked down at her console then back up at Dean.

        "We are all with you, Captain. And..." She paused, taking a deep breath, "I'm sorry about your father."

         "Thanks, Charlie." Dean said, before looking back to Kali. "Was that good enough for you?"

         She raised an eyebrow. "Much better that I expected. Transmitting the information now." Dean looked back to Charlie.

       "I've got it, sir."

       "Good, end trans-"

         "One more thing, captain. This information is important to me. And if I find out that you've down anything rash, or stupid with it. Lets just say we'll see each other again." She smiled at him, then the transmission cut off.

       "Dammit, I really don't like her."

       "Yeah." Charlie said still looking at the screen. "She was really pretty though." She looked back over at Dean who smiled and shook his head.

        "We can find you someone better than that."

        "Hope you don't mind if I hold you to that."

        "Not at all, Charlie, not at all."


	8. Chapter 8

_Chapter 7:_

 

     Cas had heard about the doctor but had never met her. He had not taken the opportunity to come see her and neither had see. He was not sure if this were strange or not, considering to her, they were the only two Vulcans aboard the Impala, but he didn't question it.

     He watched her as she first examined Jo and then Benny, sending them on their way when she was satisfied. Her straight black hair was longer than the usual Vulcan hairstyle but still kept with the angled shape of it, reaching just below her jaw. Once the sickbay was empty she turned to Castiel, her dark eyes sizing him up.

       "The captain says your name is Castiel. That is" she paused raising an eyebrow, "unusual for a Vulcan. I am Tes'sa."

        "I was interested in meeting you before Pelios, but thought you would be busy."

        "You were correct. I was busy." Tes'sa examined him slowly. Taking special care to go over each cut and bruise that littered his arms and face. She said nothing as she worked, dark eyes only focused on his injuries. Finally, after close to twenty minutes of through examining, she straightened and looked at him, dark eyes meeting his blue ones.

          "I am going to be straight with you, Castiel." She said, the human expression sounding strange in her Vulcan monotone. " I thought there was something odd about you when you first arrived on this vessel. It would have been illogical to take my hypothesis to the captain considering my lack of empirical data and his apparent trust in you. Your fight on Pelios has given me what I had needed to make an assumption based on my previous hypothesis. However, I still believe it to be illogical to bring it up between anyone else besides you and myself."

           "What is your hypothesis?" Castiel said quietly, though part of him already knew.

         " You heal quickly. Although Vulcans do have a higher metabolic rate than humans and have a tendency to heal very fast, your body's healing capability still exceeds even the most advanced Vulcan. I took multiple scans to be sure, and though you may be perfectly Vulcan inside and out, you are still, put simply, a prefect replication." She sighed, a gesture she had no doubt picked up from her long stint with humanity. "I checked to see if you had been surgically modified, but you have not been. Nor do you have any of the common genetic markers of one of the few species of shape shifters. You are...strange."

          "You said you knew this before you took the scans." Castiel said.

       "I did. "

       "How?"

       She tilted her head slightly to the side, her mouth turning upward at the corners in the ghost of a smile." Call it a feeling." She said.

        "You have been with humans for quite some time haven't you?"

       "I have. And, despite sounding more un-Vulcan than I already have, I'm going to do something else human-like. I'm going to keep your secret between you and I. "She held up a hand before he could say anything. "I trust the Captain, and he trusts you, so I'm taking a chance. Without any evidence to support the feeling, I'm going to say that you mean no harm to this ship or its crew and so there is no point in me jeopardizing your standing with them by revealing your secret. "

        "Thank you, this is-"

        "No thanks are necessary. But, if I find at any point that you are undeserving of the trust put into you, you will not be on this ship long enough to cause any harm to it." She said, frown back on her face. "Now, I have work to do, I am sure I will see you again."

         Castiel climbed down from the exam table. "Goodbye Tes'sa."

      "Goodbye, Castiel."

 

...

 

      Dean had set a course for the coordinates in his data. It had taken some convincing to get leave to go, it was a Class M planet inhabited by a species that had not invented space flight yet. They apparently hadn't advanced much past the equivalent of Earth's medieval era. Of course Dean couldn't just send a team to land. Oh no, there was a whole book of regulations against it. But, Dr.Devereaux could be exceedingly annoying when he wanted to be, which was great, but only when that specific trait was turned on Dean's superiors and not himself. They had eventually agreed to let them go to the planet, but not before sending a 343 page "book-let" on proper non-advanced life form protocols.

      Luckily or not, Dean wasn't sure, it would take a few days to get there, plenty of time for him to at least look through the book-let. Protocols and regulations were one of the few things he really hated about his job. Not that he didn't understand the need for them, sure, but why they had to be so long-winded and dry he would never know.

       To pass the time, he had tried contacting Sam again, and after the fifth try, a young Vulcan woman answered. She was pretty, dark-skinned, and gray eyed, and for a moment Dean thought she might be Sam's girlfriend, hoped she was.

      "You must be Dean. Sam's brother." She said. It wasn't a question.

      "That's right, I'm afraid he didn't tell me who you were though."

      "That is not surprising, unless he tells you about all of his classmates." There went his dreams of Sam getting a cute Vulcan girlfriend. He wasn't surprised though. Sam hadn't dated since Jess. She had been smart and funny and perfect for Sam. But she had died. House fire. Something about a gas leak if Dean was remembering correctly. Sam hadn't really been the same since. They didn't even talk much anymore and part of that, Dean knew, was his own fault. Too busy with his ship he guessed, and he knew the twinge in his gut was proof that he felt guiltier than he already did.

        "I just thought, since you were in his room."

        "I asked him to borrow a book, he is not in this weekend so he gave me the access code to come obtain it myself. The message alert on his computer has been going off since I walked in, and according to his missed messages, it has been going off for some time. I reasoned it would be difficult to get a hold of him in an emergency so answered it. Is this and emergency?"

        "No, not exactly." Dean frowned. "Look, I just really need to talk to him. So when he gets back from wherever he is, would you let him know?"

        "Of course."

        "Thank-" The screen had clicked off. "Damn fucking vulcans, some times I just-" the unmistakable ding of someone at his door echoed through his room. He considered throwing something at the door but decided against it. He wasn't in any kind of mood for visitors, but he was a captain first and foremost.

     "Come in." He said, not just a little moodily. The door opened revealing Cas, back in Vulcan robes. A bandage had been plastered onto his face where he had been hit with the pipe, but otherwise he didn't look so bad once all the dirt and ash from the smoke had been washed off.

          "Is this a bad time?" He said hovering in the doorway.

        "Ye-.... No... No, it's fine come in." He said waving his hand to indicate one of the room's chairs that stood opposite the couch Dean had positioned himself on. Cas nodded walking over to it and sitting down. The door closed audibly behind him.

       Cas was quiet for a few moments, eyes on Dean's face. "Can I ask what is troubling you?" Cas asked watching Dean, his face looked simply curious, which stopped Dean from snapping at the Vulcan. In his experience Vulcans were usually decent enough at social cues. Cas however was not, he always seemed to stare to long, stand to close. Dean hadn't known him very long but wasn't surprised by his lack of social etiquette. At least he knew enough to ask if it was appropriate. Maybe the sheer lack of usual social behavior in Cas was one of the reasons Dean found himself fond of the Vulcan.

        "It's my brother. Did I tell you I had a brother?" Cas shook his head no. "We'll I do. He's my only sibling, younger by a few years. We were real close growing up, my mom died when I was little, Sam, my brother, doesn't even remember her, so with my father being the captain of a Starship, I was always expected to look out for him." Dean smiled thinking about growing up, playing games with Sam all over the ship. They had had some good times. Dean picked up a picture off the coffee table in front of him. A picture of Sam and himself that had been taken right before Dean had gone to Starfleet Academy. He handed it to Cas. "That's my brother, you know, the massively tall one." Cas took the picture, examining it carefully before handing it back. " You'd probably like him. He's crazy smart, even got accepted into the Vulcan Science Academy."

          Cas looked almost surprised. "That is no small feat. Humans are rarely accepted."

         "I know." Dean said. "My dad wasn't too excited about it, wanted Sam to join Starfleet, but I was always proud of him." Dean leaned back in his chair and let out an exasperated sigh. " I mean I'm really happy he's there, Sam's been through a lot. I just-"

        "You miss him." Cas finished. Dean looked up to find Cas still watching him carefully, and for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to actually be uncomfortable about it. The surprise of the feeling wasn't unwelcome.

        "Yeah. I do. And with all this shit going on with my father. I just kinda wanted to talk to him, y' know?" Cas nodded.

       "Yes, I think I do."

      "What about your family? Are you excited.... well maybe that's the wrong word? Are you looking forward to seeing your brother again?"

       Cas was silent for a moment brows furrowed. "I have not seen Gabriel for many years."

        "How'd you know he was missing then?"

       Cas's frown deepened so his mouth was a straight thin line. "He had been missing for many years. Though when he first left, it would have been quite easy to find him. However, I am.... ashamed, to say that I did not search for him until now. That has only changed because now I need him and must set our differences aside."

      Dean hadn't expected this, he felt like he wanted to be at least a little angry at Cas for not telling him the whole truth, but he wasn't. He could understand why Cas didn't want to spill every private family secret to a complete stranger. "What happened?" Dean said after another minute of complete silence.

      Cas breathed in heavily before letting out a short burst of air. " There was a, I suppose you could call it a falling out, in my family. My two oldest brothers fought often for control"

       "Doesn't sound very logical." Dean said, trying for humor to lighten the mood. Cas's frown only deepened more.

       "It was not. My eldest brother essentially won, exiling my other brother from returning. Although there was a resolution, it had disrupted the peace and the structure of my family greatly. Many left, Gabriel was one of them." Cas paused. "The sibling I was closest to, Annael, left as well." He sighed, turning his head to look at the window behind Dean.

       "It was not a logical choice to let them go. I always wonder if I should have gone with them. Only now, when I cannot convince my eldest brother that he is wrong, have I left to search for Gabriel. It is a selfish choice and I do not think he will be happy to see me. However it must be done. For myself and for you as well." Cas finally looked back up at Dean. "I still believe Gabriel will have information on your father's whereabouts." Dean met Cas's gaze, one lost brother to another, friend to unexpected friend. He reached out and grasped Cas's shoulder. Cas jolted from the contact, startled, but didn't break his eye contact.

      "We'll find them both Cas. Don't worry." Dean said, leaving his hand there a minute longer before letting go and settling back in his chair.

       "Thank you, Dean."

       They sat in silence for a while. He couldn't really think of anyone he could just sit with, without speaking, and not feel the need to fill the silence up with words. Cas had turned his head away from Dean and was watching the stars move past the window behind him. Dean turned to watch to. He never got over how beautiful the stars where, even though he had spent his whole life in space, the view never disappointed; he didn't think it ever would.

        "Dean?" Cas said quietly. Dean turned his head to look at his Vulcan friend, but he was still watching the stars.

        "Yeah?"

        Cas didn't respond for another minute, Dean thought he was trying to find the right words. Finally he said, "I wanted to let you know, that I am grateful for every thing you have done for me. You have taken me onto your ship. You have given me work to do, you have given me my own quarters, and most importantly, you have given me the means to find my brother. It is more than many would have done." Cas turned to look at Dean, his usual stern Vulcan expression had slipped, and Dean could see concern in the lines on his brow, worry in the downturn of his lips, and sincerity in his eyes. "I just wanted you to know that. Among the qualities that have made you a good leader, you are also generous and kind. I could not have done this without you." Dean could feel the blush rising to his face, his cheeks burning with it.

         "It wasn't like there wasn't something in it for me too." He smiled awkwardly. His heart was suddenly beating very fast and, damn, did he need to get a hold of himself. Cas was trying to thank him and all he could think about was leaning over and-. He took a deep breath.

          "Regardless, you didn't have to take me with you, and you didn't need to treat me like I was one of your crew. I wanted to give you something. I hear it is a human custom to give someone a gift when they have been helpful to you." Cas reached into his robe pulling out a small square data-disk.

          "That wasn't necessary, Cas."

          A small smile turned up the corners of Cas's lips. "It was not difficult. Jo mentioned your fondness for 20th century music. I heard this once, quite some time ago, and thought you might enjoy it."  He held out the small square to Dean. Their fingers brushed together as Dean took the disk.

       "Alright then." Dean said standing. "Let's pop this bad boy in." He walked over to his computer and pushed the disk into one of several slots connected to it. "Computer, play music in slot 2."

        The music came pouring over the speakers, a melody, not to fast or to slow. Dean noticed the piano immediately, later the violin and the drums and the guitar. He didn't recognize the man's voice with its slight nasal sound, but he liked it.

       _Your eyes are burnin' holes through me/ I'm gasoline/ I'm burning clean._

     Dean turned to Cas. "I don't know this one. Who is it?"

        "A band called R.E.M. The song is Electrolite. It was written in the late 1990s which I am told is not the exact era you prefer but I thought you would appreciate it."

         Dean smiled leaning back against his desk and letting the music wash over him. He felt like this would be a good song to dance to, slowly, with a partner. He was fond of dancing but rarely had the chance to practice. He looked up at Cas who, not to his surprise, was watching him.

      _You are the star tonight/ you shine electric outta sight_

         "Come here for a sec." He said motioning to Cas.

        Cas looked at him speculatively, then stood up and walked towards him. "What is it?

       "Do vulcans ever dance?"

       Cas tilted his head to the side. "No, not generally."

        "Have you?" Dean said.

         Again the head tilt. "No... I don't think I have. At least, not since I was very young."

        "We'll then, now's as good a time as any to learn, right?" Dean said smiling triumphantly.

        "What-" was all Cas said before Dean took his hands and placed them on Dean's shoulders. To Dean's amusement Cas didn't attempt to move just stared at him strangely. Dean placed his hands on Cas's hips. "Since you don't have any experience, I'll lead." Cas looked like he wanted to protest but had decided not to. His head still tilted slightly to one side as he tried to puzzle out Dean's erratic actions. Dean himself, didn't really know what he had gotten into him, but figured he was already doing whatever it was he had decided to do and it was too late to turn back now.

       _If you ever want to fly_

Dean moved slowly at first, Cas adjusted surprisingly well, learning quickly for someone who had never danced before. Dean adjusted his movements to the steady rhythm of the music, Cas following suit. "You're pretty good at this. Sure you haven't danced before?"

      Cas looked at him, one eyebrow raised. "I'm not sure this qualifies. We are just swaying back and forth."

      _Stand on a cliff and look down there/don't be scared/ you are alive_

"Did you just- was that a joke?" Dean said, unable to stop the surprise that crossed his face.

       Cas raised his other eyebrow to affect a look of disbelief on his passive features. "Vulcans do not joke, Dean Winchester."

       Dean grinned widely. "Sure they don't."

       _Your light eclipsed the moon tonight/ electrolite/ your outta sight_

"It would be illogical for me to lie to you about Vulcan humor." Cas said same passive expression on his face.

       "Right, right, of course. Definitely illogical." Dean said attempting a serious expression and failing.  Cas cast his eyes down, and Dean caught the tiniest flicker of a smile.  The music had slowed, indicating the end of the song coming.

        _Your eyes are burnin' holes through me/ I'm not scared_

Cas released Dean's shoulders, Dean letting go as well. The final piano notes dispersing as the song ended.

        "I suppose I now owe you thanks for your dance lesson." Cas said, eyebrows raised and blue eyes on Dean. The smile was gone, but Dean was sure he had seen it, before they had let go. Cas was still standing very close to Dean and he could feel every centimeter of distance between himself and Cas. He had surprisingly relaxed significantly while showing Cas the wonders of human dance customs, but now he could feel his heartbeat kick back into overdrive.  There was a small part of his brain, the part that he had suppressed when he became a captain that always wanted to be impulsive, wanted to fly off without a plan. Most of the time he ignored it, impulsiveness could get you or your crew killed. But right now, alone with Cas in his quarters, he couldn't stop it.

        Dean leaned forward, wrapping his arm around Cas's waist to pull him closer, and kissed him.

 

...

 

       Cas was more shocked than he thought he'd be. He had a feeling it had something to do with the slow drain of his Q powers. Before when he had taken mortal form outside of the continuum, he could still feel things, but it was if they were far away from him with little bearing on his mental state. At this very moment however, he thought he understand why vulcans practiced logic as if it were a religious rite.

        He felt one of Dean's hands, fingers splayed open on his back, the other had rested in his messy black hair. The press of Dean's lips, soft and warm, against his own was a whole other sensation. Cas was suddenly reminded of a time when Anna had dragged him to a planet where the air was filled with electricity, blue and violet phosphorescent waves streaking across the sky in jagged curving lines. It had made his hair stand on end and lit up his body from the inside out.

        He felt hot too. His copper filled blood pumping faster as his heart pounded in his chest. He didn't know how to react to this at all. He had never felt so terribly conflicted before, both with an urge to continue and the knowledge that he only felt these strange alien sensations because he was losing what made him a Q.

         With as much mental strength as he could muster he pulled away from Dean. They were both breathing heavily. He tried to calm himself, he had read a few of the teaching of Surak when he first learned of Vulcans, fascinated by their choice of logic over all else. He remembered Anna laughing at him. "You've finally found something in the universe you feel close to, Castiel,” she had said. He would have thought she was making fun of him if he hadn't seen how happy she looked.

         Dean's green eyes looked brighter to Castiel; perhaps it was just the light and the adrenaline coursing through his body. The man's cheeks were flushed red, as Cas assumed his own were tinged green. Cas could usually read Dean, as if he was an open book. He wore his emotions close to the surface. This time was no different. Cas saw conflicting emotions on Dean's face, and was surprised that it was not unlike Cas's own feelings. Dean looked like he wanted to keep going, but also looked like he had made a terrible mistake. He ran a hand through his short dirty-blonde hair that was now a mess of strands sticking up at odd angles.

         "Cas..." He started, but didn't seem to know what he wanted to say after. Cas was pulled by the sudden urge to pull Dean back, close to him again. But remembered his logical teachings. Cas took a deep breath, then another. He could feel his heart beat slowing with each one along with the knowledge surfacing to the front of his mind, that there was so much that must be done. He was so far from accomplishing his goals, and Dean was a distraction. A strangely alluring, human, distraction.

     Cas thought of Lucifer, of all his brother's power, looking straight through Castiel. He thought of Lucifer killing Dean without a thought then looking back at Cas. "You have fallen so far, little brother." He practically heard Lucifer say. Cas took another breath to silence his vision.

      "So Vulcans really do blush green." Dean said, laughing awkwardly. "I uh...I always wondered that."

       "Yes." Cas said, remembering to still his mind with each breath. "Vulcan blood is copper based. So, instead of blushing red like humans, vulcans blush green."

      "Oh. I see." Dean said, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. "Cas. I..."he started again, Cas was sure Dean still didn't know what to say. "Sorry."

      "Don't apologize." Cas said. Dean looked up at him, confusion evident in his raised eyebrows.

       " It was...not an unpleasant experience. However, I..." Cas paused, trying to find the right words. "I need some time to process...everything. There is so much that I still need to do. I don't think this is the best time to pursue-"

       Dean held up a hand, self-deprecating smile on his face. "Yeah, it's fine Cas. Not a problem, I understand."

       Cas could feel himself be coming frustrated. He was filled with the sudden inclination to shake Dean out of his growing frustration. "No, I do not believe you do." Cas said slowly. "I need time, Dean Winchester. As I believe you do as well."

       "I-" Dean paused. "Right. Ok. You need some time." Dean nodded he looked up at Cas, a small smile on his face, this one more genuine. "Take whatever time you need."

       Cas nodded, then turned around and left Dean's quarters. As he was walking back to his own room, it occurred to him that, very likely, once Dean found out what Cas really was Dean would no longer be open to the time he had given Cas. Very likely, he would not want to see Cas again at all. He didn't know what to make of the sudden spike of loneliness that snuck into his bones.

 

...

 

     After pacing up and down the length of his quarters more times than he wanted to admit, he left his room, walking quickly in the direction of his First Officer's quarters. He hit the button at the door multiple times until finally the door opened. Jo stood in the doorway in cotton shorts and a t-shirt. Her blonde hair was down and she was looking at him with a look that could only be deemed murderous. She straightened up when she saw who it was, the look disappearing from her face. "Yes, captain."

      "At ease, commander. I just...wanted to talk to you, if your not busy." She raised one eyebrow before motioning him in. Dean walked into her living room and took a seat on her couch.

      "Unless you count sleeping as 'busy' Dean, I'm not busy. Do you want something to drink?"

      "Coffee black, if you’re offering."

       Jo walked over to the replicator then walked back to Dean with two steaming cups in her hands, settling herself across from Dean. He took one of the cups from her and sipped slowly, careful not to burn his tongue.

       "So what'd you do?" Jo said after she had taken a drink from her cup.

      "What makes you think I've done anything?" She eyed him over her cup.

      "You only come here, in the middle of the night, if there is an emergency or you've done something stupid. It's obviously not an emergency so, what have you done?"

      Dean sighed. He was starting to think coming here was his second mistake of the day. But Jo was not only his first officer but also one of his best friends. He needed to talk to someone and it was her, Benny, or Charlie, and the latter two were on duty. "I may have kissed Cas." He said and was surprised by Jo's total lack of surprise.

      "That's it? I've been waiting for you to do that since he first set foot on the ship."

      "How?"

      "Oh, I don't know, you've only been eye-fucking him for like two whole weeks. I'm surprised you lasted this long. You do have a penchant for one night stands with any pretty thing that walks your way." She said, grin slipping onto her face.

       "Jo!"

       "What?" She said laughing. "It's true and you know it. It's not like I'm judging you or anything. What did surprise me is you having the hots for a Vulcan. There not exactly known for fast and easy sex."

        He huffed out a breath, settling back into the couch. "I wasn't really thinking of fast and easy sex." He mumbled.

        Jo was still grinning but her gaze had softened up a bit. "I figured that. So, how did it go?"

       "Not very well. I was planning on not doing anything, at least until this whole mission is over, but he had looked kind of cute after teaching him how to dance and-"

       "Wait, wait wait, you got him to dance? How'd you manage that one?"

       "With my amazing powers of seduction, obviously." Dean deadpanned.

       "Right. And what, you just leaned forward and kissed him?"

       "Pretty much. It actually didn't go that bad. He didn't pull away immediately or anything."

       "But he did pull away." Jo said, leaning forward to place her empty cup on the coffee table.

       "Yeah, then he said it wasn't an 'unpleasant experience' and that he needed time."What does that mean?" He huffed, throwing up his hands in frustration.

       "Well." Jo said looking Dean in the eyes. “I’m no expert but I think it means that he needs time." Dean looked back at her.

       "Really?" He said slightly annoyed.

       "Yeah. I don't think vulcans generally lie about that kind of stuff, Dean. I think if he wasn't interested he would have just told you no or something."

       "You really think that. " Dean said, trying to hide the hope in his voice. He didn't want to think he had totally screwed up any relationship, friendship or otherwise, between Cas and himself.

       "I know that. I dated a Vulcan once." She said, shrugging.

       "Wait really? You never told me that story."

       "And I'm not going to tell you now. I do want to get at least a little sleep before my shift starts, and last time I checked, you could use some sleep too." She said standing and walking over to the door. Dean followed her, stepping through the doorway as she ushered him out.

       "Thanks, Jo."

       "Anytime, Captain." She paused. "Except when I'm asleep. Lets try not to do that again."

       "Yes ma'am." He said grinning.

       "Go to sleep, Dean." Jo said before closing the door.


	9. Chapter 9

_Chapter 8:_

 

      Cas had been worried about awkwardness between Dean and himself. The fact that something as insignificant as an awkward moment or two with a mortal would even bother him at all was strange. However, Cas was beginning to come to terms with strange experiences. Every day that went by left Cas less and less Q. He had started to wonder if, after everything was said and done, he would even be able to go back to the continuum. If he left now, he could probably still make it back home, but that would be pointless, illogical. The end of even the continuum would come as long as Lucifer still lived.

       He was trying not to let it bother him. He told himself it was useless to worry about things he could do nothing about, from Lucifer's planned assault on his home to Dean's unexpected, though not surprisingly unwanted advances. Cas told himself to focus instead on Gabriel. Cas didn't know what Gabriel had become since the last time he saw him. It was long ago and, if Cas could make any assumptions based on his brother's actions since then, convincing Gabriel to help may be more difficult than he had originally thought.

      Cas didn't want to think of the alternative.

     He was in the astrometrics lab again, charting the stars, when the call came through. The communicator Dean had given to him beeped, Dean's voice coming clearly through the small device.

       "Cas, report to the bridge."

     "Acknowledged, on my way Captain." Cas said. He nodded to the ensign who had been working with him who nodded back quickly, then returned to her work.

       As he walked onto the bridge he noticed the view screen focused on a planet. It's surface was a collage of deep greens and purples only separated by small swaths of deep blue cutting long lines across the surface at random intervals. It was beautiful, and even better; he could feel something at the back of his mind, like a separate pulse that indicated another Q nearby. Cas wondered if his brother could sense him too, or if his power was already too weak for that.

        "These are the coordinates, Kali gave us, and the species here are humanoid, save for a few differences. Tes'sa can get us fixed up so we blend in." Dean said turning to him, smile on his face. "Are you excited, yet?"

        Cas raised an eyebrow. "I do not believe so. Though I do believe we should proceed cautiously. I am not sure how my brother will react to our presence here. "

         "Of course you do." Dean said. " Jo, you have the bridge, I think the less people going down there the better. Don't want to make anyone suspicious."

         "Captain. I don't think-"

          Dean looked at her, all humor gone from his face. "That's an order, commander."

          "Yes, sir." She said, suddenly going rigid.

          Dean hit his communicator. "Charlie, make sure we're off the radar as much as possible. I don't want any unwanted visitors while I'm gone."

          Charlie's voice came through over his comm. "Yes sir, as far as anyone in this system knows, we were never here."

          "Alright." He said, turning to Cas. "Let's get a move on."

 

...

     Just as Dean had said, the physical alterations where minimal. Tes'sa had applied small blue and purple scales up the sides of both, Dan and Cas's faces, coming to a point in the middle of their foreheads. She had softened the arch of Cas's eyebrows and given a slight point to Dean's ears. She hadn't mentioned the conversation that she and Cas had just a few days before which pleased Cas. The local clothing were sets of long robes in colors of browns, blues, and whites, with short almost leather like vests that went over the robes themselves. They were comfortable and even more importantly, easy to move in. Dean had already mentioned his fondness for the boots a grin on his face that made something in Cas's mortal stomach tremble.

       Things had gone smoothly thus far but Cas found that he was not expecting what he found on the planet. They landed in the midst of a jungle, teeming with unseen life. Cas's Vulcan ears picked up much of it but he still wasn't used to not being able to simply see what he laid beyond his field of vision. He had to focus specifically on his physical senses, still so new to him. He didn't want to risk the loss of his Q powers completely. Truthfully he was afraid that if he did, they would never return.

        The air was hot and humid. In only a few minutes on the surface, Cas already felt terribly uncomfortable in his own skin. He had never experienced the sensation of 'swimming through air' although now he thought he understood the expression. Even his Vulcan body wasn't used to the intensity of the thick wet air. Dean marched on ahead of him through, occasional clearing a path through hanging vines or tall leafy plants. The smell of dirt and mud and life was strong in Cas's senses. The shear vibrant brilliance of each being struggling out of the dark earth and breathing in the light made his head swoon.

          "It reminds me of when I had to do my survival training back in the academy." Dean said as he trudged on ahead. The smile in his voice drew Cas away from his thoughts and his senses.  "They took us to a lot of different places with 'severe' climates, then left us alone for a few days to see how we fared. It got pretty crazy sometimes but I always seemed to come out ok. I guess living on a starship teaches you how to live light."

          "You sound like you had fun, regardless of how straining the training was." Cas said.

           "I did. My academy days were some of the best times I've had. I still miss it sometimes."

          "Even though your are a captain now, with your own crew and ship?" Dean was quiet for a moment, making Cas wonder if Dean had even heard him.

           "Yeah, I still miss it a little." He said finally. "It's hard to explain, I guess it's just different, being captain. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't trade where I am now for anything but...sometimes I miss the camaraderie you only get among people on equal terms as you. You know, it's hard to be close friends with someone when you have to pull rank on them." Dean sighed and Cas heard the signal to change the topic as clear as if Dean had spoken it.

       "According to the scanner we're almost there. I think I see a clearing coming up." They stepped out of the trees to find themselves at the top of a hill. There was a steep slope downward, carving a valley into the grassy land before curving back up into the jungle. Cas could see buildings of stone and wood littering the valley below and what seemed to be a body of water of some sort creating a blue line through the town.

         "What do you think Cas? The town is right on top of the coordinates Kali gave us." Dean said.

      "I think it is a good place to begin the search."

      Dean pulled out his communicator from a pocket hidden in his vest. "This is the Captain to the bridge, Jo, you there."

      Jo's voice came over the comm, crackling audibly, "We're getting some interference Captain, but I read you."

       "Good, Cas and I are making our way into the town. I'll communicate again in two hours. Standard procedures apply if I do not communicate before that time."

        "Understood Captain, we'll maintain radio silence until then. Good luck, Dean." Dean stored the communicator back inside his vest. "Ready to go?"

        "Just one question."

        "What's that?" Dean said, looking back at Cas.

        "What are standard procedures?"

      "If I don't update Jo in the stated amount of time, she'll attempt to hail me from the ship. If that doesn't work she'll scan the surface to try to establish where we are. After that it’s her choice to try and beam us up or send a search party depending on the circumstances." He paused. "If it the circumstance is shown to be to detrimental to the culture to bring us back, the ship is hers." Cas nodded, not being need to be told anything else.

     They set off down the slope to the village; close to the bottom Dean slowed his pace a bit so Cas could walk next to him. "Just follow my lead. We're going to seem like outsiders regardless. Just act like you fit in and we shouldn't be too bad off." He smiled and bumped Cas's shoulder like Cas had seen him do to Jo and Benny before Pelios. Cas found that he rather liked the gesture and bumped Dean back. Dean looked up at him but said nothing as they walked into the town.

      The town was laid out in a cross with two well worn dirt roads running through the town and intersecting in the center were the deepest part of the body of water lay. As they walked into the town Cas could see people on the streets running hurriedly into their houses and windows shutting with determined clicks.

      "Guess they're not a visitor friendly bunch." Dean commented easily enough, but saw his hand move to where his phaser should have been and the disturbed look that passed quickly over his features at its absence.

      "I believe it will be difficult to ascertain Gabriel's location without being able to speak to someone."

      "Yeah. Maybe they have some type of inn or something around here. Some type of meeting place."

      "I believe I remember seeing something of the sort on the scans we took while aboard the Impala. It was off the main road a little ways further."

       "Sounds like a plan then." Dean said.

       The road they turned down was shaded from the hot sun. The road itself was barren of any plant life. Cas guessed that the alleyway always lay in shadow. Probably why it had been chosen for an inn. The place would be cooler than the buildings on the Main Street that lay directly in the sun's path. There was a sign hanging above the door that creaked as it swayed gently in the breeze. It was made of some kind of metal bent into shapes Cas could not read. He pushed through the wooden door.

        There were many of the world's natives inside, dressed similarly to himself and Dean. They had been playing music; Cas saw the instruments, tall and carved of wood in strange alien curls. There had been sound too, of the people conversing easily, the sound of glasses clinking, food being eaten out of long wooden dishes. It all came to a sudden halt as the two walked into the room.

        The sudden silence rang in Cas's ears louder than the music at the bar from Pelios. He could practically hear his heart thumping inside his chest. Every single person in the bar had stopped what they were doing and were rigid as if they were made of stone. Every instinct in Cas's newly created body hummed with the desire to run or fight. His mind silenced these feelings as best it could. Cas took a deep breath, knowing that an understanding of the situation was the only way. Just as he saw Dean open his mouth to say something, every head in the room turned slowly to meet them. Every single person's eyes landing on Dean.

         "Dean." Cas said.

         "Yeah, I don't think these people are going to be much help." Dean responded slowly backing out the door they had come from, his hand had grasped onto Cas's arm, pulling him out of the room and away from the strange staring people.

          Once they had backed out of the inn, Dean looked at Cas, still holding onto his arm. "I think we need to contact the ship. Let them know what's going on, get some additional scans. I don't think it's a good idea to walk into anymore places without a little more information." Dean said, slowly letting go of Cas's arm and setting a course down the road they were on. "Do you think your brother's ok?" Dean asked, as they neared an older part of the street. The buildings less maintained. A few of the windows lay open and completely dark.

      Cas knew that his brother probably caused the strangeness of the inhabitants’ behavior, though he didn't know why. He could still feel the traces of Gabriel on them, like a long forgotten scent. Cas couldn't tell Dean this. It was too much to say in the limited time they had.

       Dean stopped at one of the abandoned buildings with a door that was cracked through the middle with age, lying in two pieces against the wall. They ducked inside. It was very dark and very quiet. Cas could only make out shapes of a stairwell leading up into the dark and an open doorway at the far side of the room. Otherwise the place appeared to be empty. Dean walked further into the room before pulling out his communicator. "Jo, do you copy?"

       "Yes, captain." came Jo's reply crackling through the speakers.

       "We've had some... Strange experiences with the inhabitants. Do some more scans be a little more thorough this time. There is something going on here that we're missing."

       "Anything specific, sir?"

       "Just anything you can find out of the ordinary. Doesn't matter how small."

       "Do you want us to beam you up?"

        Dean looked over at Cas who looked back. His face was serious, all traces of his earlier humor completely erased. This was the Starfleet Captain who had earned the respect of his crew, not Dean Winchester, the boy who had dreamed of sailing through the stars as a child. "No, we'll remain here. Update me on anything you find."

        "Yes sir, Jo out." The crackling noise from the communicator stopped suddenly.

        "I guess all we can do now is wait."

        Cas was about to respond to Dean but he didn't get the chance. There was a sudden pain in back of his skull, pulsing through his spine, and then darkness.

 

...

 

      Dean awoke to the smell of smoke and the heat of fire far to close for his liking. He opened his eyes and had to close them immediately, the light was too bright for him to see. He took a deep breath and tried again. This time he forced himself to keep his green eyes open even as they started to water. Slowly though, slowly everything came into focus. He was in what appeared to be a cave. Light was pouring in from an opening in the top maybe twenty feet above him.

     Tapestries had been hung on the walls depicting people being brought in front of a tall man with no face. Around him was a halo of light and on the sides people bowed. On another of the tapestries the same man was depicted pointing at the people brought before him and then on another the people were on fire. On the last tapestry the man was depicted with his arms spread wide as rain fell and plants blossomed around him. Dean guessed this man was their god. And he had a bad feeling.

       He moved as much as possible and found that he was tied to a board that was tilted just enough that he didn't fall into the fire in front of him. The smoke coming from it rose into the air, funneled the space in the roof of the cave. He turned to the left then to the right and was relieved to find Cas blinking strangely at the fire, a stream of green blood coming from a thick cut on his temple.

       "Cas?" Dean half whispered. No response. "Cas?" He tried again a little louder this time.

      Cas tilted his head over to find Dean. "Dean-" Cas coughed suddenly. He took a deep breath. Dean could see his chest heave against the ropes that tied him down. "Dean." He tried again. "These tapestries depict-" Cas coughed again "what I believe to be ritual sacrifice. My brother-"

      "I'm sure your brother's alright."

      "No. That is not what I mean, the people's behavior in town, the cult like behavior. Many scholars have studied this planet, they did not mention anything of the sort."

       "Right, it's definitely not what I expected. But-"

       "Dean." Cas said sharply. " I believe my brother is-" they both heard the footsteps coming from behind them somewhere. The click of their captor’s boots echoed across the caves some walls. Dean thought there were at least three of them.

       "You have trespassed on our land and brought these objects with you to spread your evil filth among my people." The man who was speaking stepped into Dean and Cas's line of sight holding their communicator's. He had two armed guards behind him, their metal facemasks glinting in the fire's light. "We must purify them." He said loudly. The two guards behind him made some unintelligible noise that sounded like a cross between anger and triumph. The man holding the communicators threw them into the fire. The guard on the right passed the man a large rock that he then threw on top of the communicator.

          Dean stared at him, not sure about what was going on. He hadn't thought he'd insulted these people in any way, though there was certainly something strange going on. None of the studies he had read about this planet had even hinted at this kind of behavior.

           The man roared triumphantly. "Your link to your demon kind is now severed."

          "Demon kind?!" Dean said. "We're not demons."

           "The gracious and benevolent Lord has shown us the truth. Only demons carry these devices and they must be destroyed or more demons will come and ravage our land!"

          "Listen." Dean said attempting to remain calm "We are not demons. We're just travelers passing through."

          "You lie, our gracious and benevolent Lord told us these things. We know your tricks. The blood of your companion proves it." Dean took a deep breath.

           "You're mistaken, Cas here, he's sick, that's why we're traveling, to find someone to cure him." Dean said, thinking of the first thing that popped into his head. The man looked unsure for a second before violently shaking his head from side to side.

           "You lie, demon, your very words corrupt. We will now purify our town with this holiest of fire so your contamination does not spread. He turned to his guards. "Bring the fire!" He shouted.

        "Wait a second-" Dean said, attempting to find a weak spot in his ropes.

         "The fire!" The man yelled again.

        "Wait-"

        "Stop!" Dean barely recognized Cas's voice, as it seemed to fill every corner of the room echoing strangely down the halls. Dean turned to his friend to make sure and found Cas, eyes glowing pure white and black hair floating as if he was underwater. Dean stared unsure of what to think. The man and his guards were silent, unmoving.

        "Gabriel! Enough of your tricks." Cas spat in the same strange alien voice. "If you condemn your own brother to die, come and face me yourself, coward."

         There was a strange whistling noise as if air was being sucked out of the room. Suddenly every fire went out one by one leaving only the light pouring in from the top of the cave to illuminate below.

          Torches, previously unlit, on the walls lit one by one with strange white light. The man and his guards ran out of the room and were gone as fast as they had come. As the last of the torches lit, Dean noticed a man standing in the center of the room. He couldn't say how long he had been standing there. He wore a black robe, hood pulled up to hide his face. The ropes binding Dean loosened and he fell to the ground, barely keeping his balance. He turned to Cas, whose ropes had loosened as well. He floated to the ground gently. His eyes still aglow. Once his feet touched the ground his hair fell back into its place and the glow left his eyes leaving them the familiar blue.

     "Little Cassy. So you finally found me." The man in the robe said, voice not exactly like Dean expected. He pulled off the hood revealing a human. Or at least, Dean modified, a human looking person. He was pale, with brown hair that seemed to feather backwards from his ears. Underneath the black robe his could see what appeared to be a red button up shirt, something that was popular in the 20th century.

       Dean turned to Cas who turned to him at the same time, face unreadable. He swayed on his feet and Dean hurried over to him grasping his shoulder to steady him. "You ok, Cas." He said.

       "I will be fine." Cas turned to the man. "So you did know I was searching for you, Gabriel." Dean looked at Cas confused, the man didn't appear to be Vulcan in any way. In fact Dean was pretty positive he wasn't human either, despite his appearance. Cas's brow furrowed but he did not look at Dean.

       Gabriel, as Cas had called him, shrugged. "Yeah, I knew. I thought you'd take a hint faster."

       "I could not afford to."

       "Apparently not, that little light show you just performed, you know it left you pretty wiped."

       "I am aware." Cas said. Dean could hear the angry undercurrent in Cas's voice.

       "Not to interrupt or anything." Dean said. He wasn't really sure why he said it, he intended but something had stirred in the pit of his stomach. He wasn't stupid, he hadn't been sure what had just happened with Cas before and something in the way both Cas and Gabriel had mentioned it, as if it was a common occurrence, had set Dean on edge. The two brothers both looked at him. Gabriel seemed to be curious and Cas, Cas's expression was still unreadable. "Can someone fill me in on what the hell is going on here!"

      "Sure thing." Gabriel said easily. "But I hope you don't mind if we don't do it here. This cave always makes me want to take a shower." He snapped his fingers and they were suddenly somewhere completely different.

      Dean found himself sitting on a fuzzy zebra print couch, pressed against Cas who had appeared next to him. There was a blue shag rug in front of them and three black chairs with a strange curving design. Dean had seen chairs like it before, in a museum he had went to when he was younger showing different rooms from decades in the twentieth and twenty first centuries. He thought these might be 60's.

      Behind the chairs there was a wall of floor to ceiling windows and Dean thought it had to he some kind of hologram because, last time he checked, he had not been halfway up a skyscraper sometime in the twentieth century."

      Gabriel appeared suddenly lounging in one of the black chairs, robe gone, replaced with a green army jacket over his maroon button-up. He was wearing a pair of worn out jeans and in his lap was a glass bowl of what appeared to be assorted candy. He held the bowl out to Dean. "Want some?" He asked, "I already know Castiel doesn't like this stuff."

      "I would rather you tell me what the hell is going on." Dean said leaning back and crossing his arms. He realized he was still sitting close enough to Cas to feel the heat coming off his body and scooted over a few inches. Gabriel watched him closely. Dean was suddenly reminded of Kali, who had watched him too with similar golden eyes.

       "We'll you're certainly no fun." He huffed, leaning back in his chair. "Alright alright. But I think Castiel here could tell you more of what you want to know." Dean glared at him. "Ok, ok." He raised his hands up as of to say he was innocent. "Fire away with your questions."

       "Was that whole cave a holo-deck?"

       "A holo-" Gabriel looked at him confused. "No, it was a real life cave."

       "Then how did we get here?"

       "I wanted us to be somewhere that wasn't a weird dark cave on a remote planet so I brought us here." He looked at Cas. "What have you been-" he stopped abruptly something seeming to have clicked in his mind. "Oh. You didn't tell him did you."

        "Tell me what." Dean said. Gabriel didn't break eye contact with his brother.

        "What does he think? You're actually a Vulcan." Gabriel said, surprised. "How'd you get him to take you with him then?"

        "Wait a second." Dean said, standing. He didn't think he could sit any longer. He turned to Cas. "What does he mean I think you're actually a Vulcan?"

         Cas's eyebrows knitted together. "Dean. I did not know how to tell you."

         "Didn't know how to tell me what, Cas?" Dean realized he was shouting and didn't actually care. He wanted Cas to look up at him with his strange blue eyes and tell him that this man, this Gabriel, was lying for some reason. That Cas was exactly who he had said he was in that desert what seemed like years ago. That Cas was the same person who had come to his room a few nights before. Cas continued to stare at his hands.

         When it became evident Cas wasn't going to continue. Gabriel took a deep breath. "He's as Vulcan as I am." Dean turned to look at Gabriel. "He's a Q, like me."

       "A Q..."

      "Yeah, that's how you're here, right now, standing in an apartment in Manhattan in 1965." Gabriel shrugged. "Time doesn't mean much, when you're Q." Dean felt a little dizzy. He sat down in one of the other black chairs leaving Cas alone on the couch.

       "I've read about your kind, at least what we've learned from your limited interaction with us." He said to Gabriel determinedly keeping his eyes away from Cas.

        "Our brother, Q, was generally truthful when he spoke of us." Cas said. From out of the corner of his eye, Dean could see Cas tilt his head up to stare at him. " We are an immortal race, capable of instantaneous matter-transformation and time travel."

        "Time travel is actually way easier than you think it is." Gabriel said waving a hand in the air dismissively. "Once you see how it's done it's as simple as walking through a door. I guess it's easy when your home doesn't exist in time, exactly." He said, digging through the bowl of candy and popping something small and bright orange into his mouth.

        "That's the continuum." Dean said, "I read about that in the reports."

        "We'll that's the basics." Gabriel said, popping another candy in his mouth, this one square and neon blue. Gabriel raised his hand with another candy in it to his mouth but stopped. Looking over at Dean with the fist inkling of interest. "If Castiel here didn't get you to come with him by telling you what he was then why did you come?" Gabriel stared at him strangely; the first unreadable expression Dean had seen crossing his face. " What's your name?"

        Dean frowned. "I'm Captain Dean Winchester, Starfleet. Why?"

         Gabriel nodded; he seemed content with the knowledge. "Yeah, that explains it. I guess mild intelligence runs in your DNA somewhere."

         "Wait- you know my father."

         Gabriel nodded. "Sure, he found me easier that my own brother over here did." He looked over at Castiel "but you were always a little slow on the uptake." He tilted his head in a strange mirror of the gesture Dean had seen from Cas numerous times. "I guess a little like right now. One of those little blind cave bats would be able to see this easier than you two morons." Gabriel said, pointing at them each respectively. "Honestly Dean, you're as bad as he is. How'd they even let you be captain with the analytical skills of a two year old?"

          "What the hell are you talking about?" Dean said getting more and more annoyed.

          Gabriel continued on as if Dean hadn't spoken. "But really, little Bro, you couldn't find a nice Bajoran or something, or a Romulan, they can be nice. Humans are." He wiggled his fingers back in forth in a gesture Dean didn't understand. From the look on Cas's face he was just as lost. "You know, messy."

          "If you are speaking of Dean's sexual interest in me, he has already made that clear." Cas said.

        "That is not what I'm talking about exactly, but whatever, at least your not totally oblivious. Gabriel leaned forward, knocking the bowl of candy to the floor, (it miraculously stayed upright) and ruffled Cas's hair. Cas's face would have had Dean laughing if Dean had been in any mood for it. He shrugged Gabriel's hand off, leaning further back against the couch so he was out of reach.

       "If you know where Dean's father is, please let us know." Cas said, annoyance seeping into his voice.

       Gabriel leaned back in his chair, picking his bowl up as he went. "We met, he was kind enough to share some info with me, then we parted ways. That's it." Gabriel said, scooping up a handful of the brightly colored candy and pouring it into his mouth.

        "So you don't know where he is." Dean said

        "Nope, don't know don't care. It's his business what he decides to do with his life, not mine." Dean thought about punching the man in the face repeatedly, but didn't think it would be effective or satisfying. Hell, he thought the guy might actually laugh about it.

         "That explains why the human is here." Gabriel turned to face Cas. "So what brings you all this way, little brother? You gave up a lot to find me." Gabriel seemed to be studying him for a moment before saying. "You're so mortal now I couldn't even sense you land on my planet. I don't think you could go home if you tried."

       Cas's stare was icy. "You knew I was looking for you, why didn't you reveal yourself?"

       "I left for a reason, I wasn't going back, even if it meant I had to watch you lose your powers."

       "I was not coming to bring you back."

       "I worked that one out after I spoke to this one's father."  Gabriel said, waving at Dean. "I don't want anything to do with what you're planning. I thought you could've realized that for yourself, but I forgot how oblivious you were."

       "Lucifer has returned and he will-"

       "I don't care what you're going to say. I don't want any part of it."

       "He will destroy anything he gets his hands on." Cas said, voice rising.

       Gabriel crossed his arms and for the first time since Dean had met him, Gabriel looked threatening. He could feel the air start vibrating as if every molecule was singing with the Q's presence.

      "Let him do it, it's better than the alternative."

      "There is no alternative!" Cas pleaded.

      Gabriel's eyes narrowed. "There are two options. One" he flipped up his index finger. "I help you kill the brother I was closest to. Or two" he said flipping up his middle finger as well "I don't. That's it, those are the choices. Have a great time, thanks for playing." He stood and just for a second, Dean thought he looked as defeated as Cas. "I think I know which option I'm going to choose." He leaned forward place his whole palm on Cas's forehead. Dean felt a pulse go through the room, standing his hair on end, Cas's eyes were suddenly a bright neon blue as if they glowed from the inside, Gabriel's glowed bright like the sun and then, as suddenly as it had happened, the light was gone.

      "That's enough to get you home, Castiel, I suggest you use it wisely." He said quietly. He looked at Dean for a moment but said nothing. He snapped his fingers once and suddenly they were back on the bridge of the Impala. Jo was in the middle of apparently hailing him before she stopped and stared at him.

        "How in the hell-" she said before Dean held up a hand to stop her.

        "I'll explain everything in a minute. First though." he turned to Cas, not surprised to see Cas's blue eyes on him.

        "Dean-" he didn't wait to hear what Cas was going to say.

        "Benny. Throw our Vulcan friend in the brig."

         "Captain?" He heard Benny say from somewhere behind him. He didn't have to see the man's face to know he was confused.

         "Now, lieutenant." Benny didn't need to be told twice he walked over to Cas, phase pistol out. Cas took one last look at Dean before following Benny off the bridge.


	10. Chapter 10

_Chapter 9:_

  

       With the power that Gabriel gave him, Cas could have easily broken through the containment field separating himself from the rest of the ship. He didn't even need to do that if he wanted to return home. All he'd have to do was will himself there, and home is where he would be. Part of him wanted to. But he knew that his home would eventually be destroyed when Lucifer found a way in and who knows what the universe would be like after that.

        Even with most of his powers gone, Cas was no match for one of his eldest brothers, and with Lucifer's own tactical genius, he could have an army that no one could defeat. He had to be stopped before that happened. Without Gabriel's help though, Cas had little hope of stopping his brother. He couldn't return home until Lucifer was dead or he was. That was the vow he had made to Michael before he left and he planned to fulfill it.

      And then there was the matter of Dean. Cas felt like he couldn't just simply leave without giving Dean and explanation. He wouldn't have gotten this far without the man's help. He felt like he owed him at least that much, with his father still missing. The problem was Dean had no desire to speak to Cas. The ensign charged with guarding his cell had said as much. For the first time since he left the continuum, Cas was truly and utterly lost.

       The sound of footsteps brought Cas out of his thoughts. He could feel his heart pick up its rhythm. He wondered if it was Dean. Found that he hoped it _was_ Dean but didn't want to waste his powers finding out for sure. The ensign looked surprised at the visitor, but from this angle, Cas still couldn't tell who it was. The ensign stepped to the side to let his visitor pass, and then left.

       Cas was surprised when Tes'sa rounded the corner, black hair, perfectly in line over her white lab-coat. She walked to the side of the room and took a chair that was sitting there for visitors, then walked to Cas's cell, sitting it gently on the ground. She took her seat then looked up at him with her dark brown eyes.

       "Have you come her to carry out your promise to remove me from this ship."

        She raised one of her arched Vulcan eyebrows. "I have not. As far as I know, you have not caused harm to this vessel or its crew. In fact, I believe you may have saved the Captain's life, whether he says so or not."

        "Then why are you here?"

        "Curiosity mostly. I also assessed the situation and determined company was needed."

        "Your here...because you thought I was lonely."

        "On the contrary, Castiel, I know you are lonely. Since you seem to find yourself closest to Vulcans, considering your chosen shape, I was the most obvious choice." Cas thought about arguing with her, telling her in a moment he could be with his family but something in her large dark eyes told him that she would know he was lying.

         "I have not left because I have nowhere else to go." He said instead, pulling his legs up onto the metal bed to sit cross-legged."

         "The universe is large and in a moment you could be anywhere, if the stories are true."

         "It doesn't matter. Wherever I am, the situation is the same."

         She nodded. "So you stay here because it is one place in the universe where you care about the people."

          "Yes."

           "That's good to know Castiel. The crew cares about you as well."

           "That seems unlikely."

            The change is Tes'sa's face was subtle, but Cas caught it, he read her surprise in the gentle twitch of her lips, and the way her eyes widened just slightly. "In your short time here you have done much for the ship and helped the crew in many ways. I am told the crew stationed in Astrometrics has missed your absence significantly. Despite the Captain's anger at you he still cares for you a great deal. If he did not, he would have left you on the planet you were on, before leaving orbit. "

           "He seems content with his anger against me and has every right to be."

         "He'll come around, I have known him for quite some time." She said as her lips quirked upward ever so slightly. She watched him for a moment before reaching into her lap-coat and pulling out a PADD. "I have brought the teachings of Surak with me I thought they would be helpful in calming your mind."

         "I am not allowed access to anything but food and water." Cas said simply.

         "I had thought as much, that is why I have asked Ensign Rosen to cover me in the sickbay.  No one calls them-self a true Vulcan without reading the teachings of Surak."

         " I don't understand, you know what I am." Cas said.

         "That is inconsequential, at least to me. Don't worry about the rules, I am going to read them to you." She said, one eyebrow raised as if it were obvious.

         "Of course." He said. He kept his head down, afraid and embarrassed of what she might read on his face.

 

...

 

       Dean sat in his ready room on sub-space. He was pissed off and confused and if he was honest with himself, he felt just a small twinge of betrayal. After feeling so close to Cas, he found out that he actually didn't know who he was. He didn't even know if the Cas he had spoken to for the last few weeks was even the real Cas. There was only one choice.

        "John Winchester, resigning his captaincy and joining section 31. I just don't believe it," Bobby's gruff voice came clear over the sub-space frequency. Dean could see part of Bobby's study behind where he sat. A mess of books and papers and grungy windows that could have been cleared easily but never were. To Dean it felt a little like looking into a window of home. The man himself didn't look any different from the last time Dean had seen him, complete with worn-out baseball cap and an untrimmed beard.

     The simple sight of Bobby made Dean feel a little bit better, just as it always had. Dean remembered getting in fights with his father or brother when he was very young and running down to engineering so Bobby could smack some sense into him. Bobby's manner may have always been a bit rough but Dean never doubted that he cared, not once.

       "I don't either, it's not like him at all." Dean said, leaning back in his chair, arms crossed. Bobby looked like he wanted to say something to that but opted for silence instead.

       "So tell me something, how the hell did you get a Q to stay locked up?"

       Dean frowned, he had mentioned Cas briefly when he was giving Bobby the run down but had been purposefully vague about the subject, hoping Bobby would take a hint. Dean sighed, realizing he should have known better. "I had security escort him to the brig, standard security, and he's just stayed there. Tes'sa, our doctor, went to visit him yesterday, she says she doesn't think he'll leave while he's there."

        Dean knew Bobby's expressions well enough to know the one he had on now as skeptical. "Boy, your smart enough to know if someone as powerful as that Q wanted out, he'd be out. You’re missing something."

         "I don't think he's a threat."

         "You best be sure about that before you decide to keep him on the ship. Are you sure?"

         Dean took a moment before answering, remembering Cas's lies. If there was one thing Dean hated, it was lying. Still though, Dean believed Cas wasn't a threat, at least not to Dean or his crew. He didn't know why but he had made a career on trusting his instincts. Now wasn't the time to stop.

         "I'm sure."

         Good. I-...ha-.....you.....S-.." Bobby's image crackled on screen his voice coming out garbled and unclear.

          "Bobby, I'm getting some interference."

        "Y-...De-....I-...ca-" his video suddenly clicked off, leaving a black screen.

         "Captain?" Jo's voice came over his comm.

          "Go ahead."

         "Sub-space communications are off. Charlie thinks they are being purposefully jammed." She said, sounding agitated.

         "Jammed, by who?"

         "I don't know, but there is a ship approaching at high-warp. It's.... it’s huge, sir."

         "On my way to the bridge."

         Once on the bridge he noticed everyone's eyes on him, he hadn't seen the ship heading towards them yet but he didn't need to. He could tell by the crew's looks that it wasn't good. He took a seat in his chair before turning to Jo. "How close are they?"

        "ETA 1 minute." Benny said from his station behind Dean.

        "On screen." Jo had not been kidding when she said the ship was huge. It loomed onto the screen, dwarfing their ship. Dean had never felt so small. The only thing he could think of in relation were the Borg cubes he had seen in simulations.

         "They’re hailing us, captain." Jo said from his side, looking to Dean for instruction.

         Dean stood from his seat and nodded to Jo. "Let's see who would travel at high warp just to speak with us. The screen flickered then showed the bridge of the other ship. The room was pure white, all the stations in the room were made of some kind of material that reflected the white of the rest of the room, their screens were holograms, suspended in mid air. A woman stood int the center of the room wearing a skintight white suit. She was pale, with long straight blonde hair. The reflection of the white room on her gray eyes made then almost look white. Dean was more surprised about how young she looked than her human appearance. Dean was sure she couldn't be older than 18 or 19.

           "I'm Captain Dean Winchester from the Federation. What can I do for you?"

           The woman smiled gently and Dean had the feeling this was what it felt like to be a mouse cornered by a cat.  "Hello, Captain, my name is Lilith. I'll make this quick, I know you probably have important things to be doing." She bounced lightly on the balls of her feet. "My boss's brother is on your ship. We've come to pick him up."

          "Who is your boss? And which one of my crew have you come to 'pick up'?" Dean said, not liking this woman for a second.

          "Who, I serve isn't really important. It won't be any major loss for you. My boss's brother isn't one of your crew. I've been instructed to pass a message to you." She tapped the air in front of her, a holographic screen spreading in front of her hands. "He sends his gratitude for taking such good care of his little brother and has prepared a gift for you. An upgrade for your warp coils. Our scans show that they are just a bit out of date."

         Dean smiled though it didn't reach his eyes. He tapped Jo's station lightly without looking down. A signal they had prepared. She would spread the word quietly, for a tactical alert, as well as send a silent message to Charlie and Benny to get whatever information they could on the ship in front of them.

        "That's very generous. Unfortunately I'm still not sure who you're talking about."

      Lilith frowned, crossing her thin arms over her chest. "I think you do know, Dean Winchester. There is only one person on your ship that is out of place. Our scans show that he is in your brig. Give him to us, I won't ask so nicely the next time."

      "We'll that's a shame because last time I checked we don't have anyone in our brig. Your scans must be wrong." He smiled as kindly as possible at her. "Have a nice day." He said before disconnecting the feed. He hit the button on his chair that would project his voice across the whole ship. "Red alert, all hands to battle stations." He cut the communication then turned to Benny. "Report."

       "The ship is charging weapons, sir. Their shieldin' blocked all attempts at a good scan. I suggest we get the hell out of here."

       "I agree, maximum warp. Get us out of here now!" Dean knew the minute they went into warp, felt the hum of the engines as if he were inside them himself. "Keep an eye on that ship until we are out of range. I'm-" the engines shuddered violently, almost throwing Dean off of his feet. "Charlie, what was that?"

       Charlie's voice came loudly out of the bridge comm. "We've been hit, sir. I don't know how. Shields are completely down. We're dropping out of warp."

        "On screen!" Dean said, looking up at the screen for his answer. Lilith's ship came into full view in front of them even closer than it had been before. "How in the hell. They have trans-warp." Dean muttered. He took a deep breath, situating himself in his chair. " Charlie get those shields up. Benny, evasive pattern Beta."

         There was a chorus of yes sirs as Dean felt the ship move suddenly to the left, around Lilith's hulking mass.

          "There chargin' weapons, sir." Benny said looking up from his station.

         "Charlie have you got those shields up, yet?"

         " Aft Shields at 20%, Captain." Charlie yelled over the frantic noise of the engine room.

         "I'm going to need more than-" the ship shuddered violently, knocking half the bridge crew to the ground.

          "Direct hit!" Jo said. "Reports of casualties from all over the ship, hull breaches on levels 4,8,9, and 13, starboard nacelle badly damaged." Jo looked up from her station's screens. Eyes wide and whispered "They blew right through our shields."

           "Captain!" Charlie's voice came over comm with the sound of an explosion "We've had a reactor breach. We have to jettison the warp core."

         "Negative, Lieutenant commander, find a way to stop the breach."

         "But capt-" she paused "yes, ok, I'll try sir,"

         "Benny's find me a weak point in those goddamn shields, now!"

         "Yes, sir."

         "Their charging weapons again." Jo said. "Reactor breach still eminent."

        "Hard to port!" Dean spat out. Feeling the ship turn suddenly, narrowly evading the enemy's attack "Charlie, I need that reactor breach stopped, Benny have you found a weak spot yet?"

        "I don't think I can stop the breach, Captain. 5 minutes to critical failure." Charlie said frantically.

        "Keep trying, Charlie."

        Benny turned to Dean. "There is a weak spot, I think it's near their engines, port side!"

        "Concentrate all fire, launch torpedoes at will." The ship shook as the torpedoes were launched. There was a moment of complete stillness as Dean saw them hit their target on Lilith's ship.

         "No effect, captain." Benny gasped.

          Charlie's voice came over the comm. "Reactor breach in 80 seconds. It can't be stopped."

          "Jettison the warp core." Dean yelled into his comm.

          "Their charging weapons again." Jo said next to him

          "Evasive Maneuver, omega." Dean shouted to Benny. The ship shook, this one threw Dean to the ground the panels near the lift door sparking brightly. Jo hurriedly clambered back onto her seat. "We've been hit with some kind of concentrated particle beam. It glanced off our Starboard bow. Hull breach on forward decks, 5 and 7. " Jo leaned back in her chair, defeated. "Reactor breach in 40 seconds. Warp core malfunction. Captain, it can't be jettisoned."

       "Abandon ship, everyone to the escape pods now!" Dean shouted.

 

 ...

 

     Cas felt when the ship had taken its last blow. He could feel the burning pulse of the warp core failing and the reactor breaching. He could also feel the thin wall between himself and the continuum. Home. He could go home, leave the mortals to their battles and wars. He could go home and strengthen the continuum against Lucifer. There was no chance in Castiel stopping his brother alone. He would die just like the people on the ship. He stood, feeling the threads that tied him to home pull at him, soft and insistent.

      He thought of Dean, who would stay on the bridge until his crew had left.

      Dean would probably die on the bridge.

      He thought of the time, just a few days before, and of Dean's green eyes, the music from people long dead playing. Dean's hands on his waist, face close enough to count his freckles like stars. Dean's lips on his.

      Castiel thought of home.

      Mind made up he took a step forward and disappeared from the brig.

      The engine floor was flooded with heat. Charlie was shouting orders at her crew yelling at them to leave as she frantically tried to jettison the core that would stop the breach. She looked up and saw him there. Confusion flickered past her face.

      "Castiel?" She whispered, but Cas heard her. He turned from her reaching into the power he had been born with. The cool pulse of the continuum filled his veins. He closed his eyes, envisioning the engine room as it was the first day he had boarded the ship. He opened his eyes, filled with white light and the engine room repaired itself, molecule by molecule, at Castiel's will. The heat disappeared from the room, the steady thrum of the warp core filling it instead. He turned back to look at Charlie who was still watching him, hands lifted an inch off the controls. Her crew had stopped too, watching him.

        A flicker of his time as an almost mortal flickered through him, panic that he wouldn't have enough time to save the ship. But it was replaced with the knowledge that he could be anywhere, anytime that he wanted. He had all the time in the universe.

         He closed his eyes and thought of Dean and when he opened them he was on the bridge. Dean was arguing with Jo, demanding she leave but Castiel knew determination when he saw it and knew Jo would go down with the ship, just like Dean. Everything moved in slow motion, the sparks flying from half the bridge's station erupted in half time like the reflection of fireworks on the sea. Blood dripped from a cut on Jo's forehead just below her hairline, winding lazily down the ridges of her nose. Cas could hear the ring of her earring jingling as the ship fell apart around them.

          She noticed him first, wide blue eyes finding him behind Dean's shoulder. Dean turned too, green eyes met his blue ones and Cas knew he had made the right decision. He reached our to the ship helmed by the woman in white and twisted at its engines. Watched them collapse into pieces. Her ship wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon.

     Then, envisioning the first place he thought of, threw the ship and its escape pods away from the battle to safety.


	11. Chapter 11

_Chapter 10:_

 

     Sam could hardly believe it had only been six months since he had first met Lucy. He thought about their first meeting often. How, after spending the day before at Jess's grave holding his late fiancee's mother's hand as she wept silently, he had walked into bar of his hotel and swore he had seen a ghost. He still thought that sometimes, when the light hit Lucy in a certain way or he caught her from the right angle, but most of the time Lucy's presence itself was too brilliant and strange to be mistaken for anyone else.

      Part of him felt a little guilty for how distant he had been lately. Vulcans didn't play around with their teaching methods and, with the little amount of free time Sam had, he always seemed to spend it with _her_.

     There was a knock on his door. Lucy never rang for some strange reason. He walked over to the door pressing the button to open it. Like he had thought, she stood in the doorway, her long wavy blonde hair was down this time, instead of up, away from her face in the usual way. She often said how it got in the way during her work, digging up artifacts on different worlds, but said she never was able to part with it. She wore a blue tank top and the thin black pants that flared out at the bottom she was fond of.

      She smiled at him the way she always did, like she knew something he didn't. It taken Sam some time to get used to that look but now, he couldn't imagine her without it. "You know it's 6 months to the day since I met you?" She said leaned against the doorframe, looking up at him with her gray-blue eyes.

       "Yeah, I actually did know." He said, running a hand through his messy brown hair. It had gotten a little long but, like Lucy said, he couldn't seem to part with it.

      "Leave it to the local genius to remember every date in the book." She pushed past him before he could respond, dropping a tall glass bottle into his hands as she went. "To celebrate." She called back to him, as she dropped herself onto his couch. Hips swinging suggestively.

       It was easy to finish the bottle, just as it was easy to pull out one of the bottles he had brought with him from earth, last time he visited, Vulcans weren't big on wine. They finished the bottle he pulled out. And, when Lucy suggested it, he pulled out another one. He never could say no to her.

       He wasn't sure how it had happened. Six months of dancing around each other, three bottles of earth wine between them, and he was kissing her. Beautiful, talented, smart Lucy. She had her long fingered hands beneath his shirt before he realized it. He could feel the alcohol thrumming through his veins and blurring his mind. And frankly, he didn't care.

      He let her lead him to his room. Let her push him onto the bed with a strength that always surprised him with her slender body. He watched her strip her shirt off easily, confidently, her tanned skin turned to soft blues and grays from the moonlight pouring through his window, brighter, than the moon of earth. She pulled her thin pants off too and Sam quickly followed suit. She crawled onto him then, fingertips ice cold on Sam's skin. He gazed up at her, blonde hair cascading in waves across her shoulders, the hind of freckles on her collarbone.

     Sam felt like every nerve ending in his skin had been pumped full of electricity, like Lucy herself was full of power, made of thunder and lightning and righteous fury. He felt like she was something he had read about in stories when he was young. Sam took a deep breath; sure he must be more drunk than he felt. Lucy leaned in kissing a line down his neck. Her long hair fell around him, and Sam was sure he smelt the sea.

      There was a strange pull in his chest, like someone had tied a rope around his soul. He felt Lucy on top of him, grasping him gently. It wasn't just her fingertips that were cold, it was all of her. He almost could feel her pulse, thrumming rhythmically through her lithe body as she rocked her hips on top of him.

      There was that pull again, in his chest, this time stronger. He winced, taking a deep breath. He opened his eyes, to watch Lucy and found her watching him, her gray-blue eyes bright in the moonlight.

        The pull in his chest continued, painfully stronger by the second, and then suddenly he was falling.

       

      The stars hung high above him and they grew farther and farther away by the second as he fell further into the dark. He was afraid, terribly horribly afraid as one star blinked into darkness after another. Then he was pulled in a different direction and he was watching something familiar.

       He watched himself walk into a bar, sorrow written on his face like a physical thing. He knew this place, he turned his head to find Lucy, as he had first seen her, dressed in blue, her long blonde hair looking almost white in the bar lights. She turned to watch Sam walk in, her silver earrings glowing like starlight.

         He was somewhere else now, somewhere he didn't know, but did know somehow. The warm dry wind brushed against his cheek, as someone who Sam knew was Lucy even with the strange alien face and long limbs. She danced with someone that Sam knew was her brother.

         Gabriel

         The name came to him easily like breathing. He felt content in this moment, the music rising and falling but he found that he was still afraid. He knew if he turned around that black starless void would rise up to meet him.

         Another image came. Sam, in the sand dunes of Vulcan, riding away with Lucy from a site she had been excavating with her Vulcan colleagues. A graveyard, a thousand, thousand years old, every bone turned to dust, every name forgotten.

         She turned to him, hair tied up messily, sweat and salt clinging to her golden skin. "I envy them a little." She said voice echoing across to Sam who felt far away from her even with her pressed closely against his side in the small confines of the car. "Knowing they would be buried with their parents, their grandparents. With their children, and their grandchildren." She ran a hand through her loosely tied hair, eyes far away. "Forgotten by time as the sands swallowed their bones. It's kind of beautiful."

          Sam wanted to kiss her then, wanted to now, but didn't. The look on her face reminded him too much of Jess, of what he had lost.

         He slipped through the car, into the dark, forced to watch the stars face away alone.

        He saw her, on her knees, blood on her hands and she stared up into the black sky, their were countless bodies around her, each with a name, and a past that he could remember as he looked at them as if he had lived countless lifetimes with all of them. Lucy's scream into the dark sky was strong enough to break Sam's bones where he stood, the sound curling into his heart and his mind and finding a kindred spirit in the scars of his soul.

         The sunlight blinded his eyes, but it didn't matter, Lucy's hand was in his pulling him along to the cliffs edge at rapid speed. They jumped and in all the time Sam had spent on a starship he had never once felt like he was flying until now. Wind blowing upward as they plummeted down into the green Vulcan Sea. Lucy's laughter arching up into the orange sky.

           There was something else too, almost as if he had experienced this before, hurtling towards the blue earth, but this time it wasn't Luci and him it was Luci and her brothers and sisters, falling faster and faster to the green grass below the cliff, but just as the earth came looming up dangerously close, Luci spread out long white wings, like the pictures of old gods she had seen once, long ago.

           Michael, Sam knew the name of Lucy's brother flying next to her. Michael, the one she admired the most. He remembered suddenly a wave of images of Michael, laughing, singing, showing Lucy so many mysteries of the universe, hand in hand.

        But Sam remembered something else too, and the anger he felt burned through him. He saw Luci screaming, yelling, begging Michael, her stoic and kind older brother gazed at her with a cold stare she had never seen before. He turned away and then so did the rest of her family.

        Sam was falling again, his heart pounding a rapid beat against his chest as he looked around wildly for anything to stop himself.

        He was on a beach. Dark Gray water washing onto gray sand. His body ached terribly, he felt like if he moved every limb would fall apart. A young woman walked out of the water. She was strangely pale in a long white dress. Her white blonde hair fell like water over her bare shoulders. She was beautiful in a strange alien way as if someone had designed her by only hearing stories of humans, never actually seeing one. He could feel the liquid potential in her being, ready to become anything she chose. A shapeshifter, a changeling, Sam thought and new it was true just as he knew this was not his memory. She kneeled in front of Sam, staring at him as if she had never seen something more beautiful in her life. Her eyes were pure white.

          He was building a ship, a giant ship, perfect for his needs. The woman in white stood behind him along with so many others. More like her, changelings left over from the Dominion war, and others who held absolute allegiance for her kind.

           He wanted to go home, desperately, more than anything in the world.

           He was back in the bar, watching Luci and himself meet eyes across the room as if nothing else existed. But he could still feel the looming void behind every wall, hiding underneath the floor.

 He couldn't escape.

The blackness rushed to meet him, every star in the sky going out.

He was sitting across from Luci on the transport to Vulcan, but the void was still there, waiting to pull him back whenever they looked away from each other.

He was standing next to her soaking wet, on the beach after surviving the cliff dive. She was laughing strangely, maniacally, beautifully. Sam was in love suddenly and absolutely.

She was sitting on his floor, drawing strange designs onto paper as he read the teachings of Surak, wondering why anyone would ever want to suppress this feeling.

So many places and times and bright moments in the swallowing darkness. But it wasn't enough.

He couldn't escape.

He couldn't escape.

He would never escape.

 

     Sam felt like he was taking the first breath of his life as he sat up violently, back in his room blankets tangled around him. He looked toward the window and found Luci staring at the dark sky. Her bare skin looked silver. He could see a strange white radiance surrounding her as she turned her head to face Sam. Her gray blue eyes glowed in the dim light of the room.

       "I didn't mean for that to happen." She said quietly. He could feel her confusion, her sadness, and knew it was from the same link that he had seen all of those memories through. "I lost control." She said simply before turning back to the window. " What did you see?"

       "Everything that mattered." He responded knowing that for the short time they were linked, he could not lie to her.

        "I couldn't tell you I was a Q. I needed you to trust me."

        "That's why you chose that appearance." Sam said. He felt like he should be angry but instead he just felt tired.

         "If there was an easier way than preying on the ghosts of your past, I would have taken it." She paused. "I am sorry though, for doing it."

         "I don't see why you even came to me. What's the point?"

         She took a deep breath, chest rising up with it. "When my family finds me, they will kill me. To put it simply, your father and your brother are now a part of that. With their help, I will be dead soon, or tossed back in the void, to spend an eternity in the dark." She hung her head and whispered "Dying would be better."

         "So you came to me as, what? An assurance?"

         "Yes. You saw it, I can't go back there."

         Sam felt the pulse of loneliness through their link and felt infinitely, unknowably sad. He wanted to scream, to be angry, to do something, anything. "You don't need to! There is always another option." He felt her bitterness like a wave.

          She laughed, a hollow sound compared to what he had heard in her memories. "There _is_ no other way. All I want is to go home, Sam. They will never let me return unless I kill Michael first." She looked up at the moon through the window. The light made her eyes shine silver like her skin. "I just want to go home."

       Sam wanted to get up, go to her and pull her close like he had before. But she might as well have been a thousand light years away. "Your home is gone, Luci. It was gone the moment you started fighting with your family. Even if you go back, it won't be what you want. It won't be the same." he paused, he thought of the house Jess and he looked at together, now empty. "It'll never be what you want."

        "You don't understand." She said evenly but Sam felt the sudden flash of anger flow through her body.

        "I do. You know what happened with my father, we haven't spoken in almost 5 years. He didn't contact me to congratulate me on my engagement, he didn't contact me to tell me he was proud of my acceptance to the Vulcan Science Academy." Sam took a breath, fighting back the flood of memories of Jess smiling at him from across the room of the party where they met, a clear glass in her hand reflecting the blue of her summer dress. "He didn't even call me when Jess died."

         "That's not the same." Luci said.

         "It is!" Sam insisted. "No matter what happens from here on out, the damage is done. No one gets to erase the past, not even you. You never get to go home again." Sam pleaded. He was off the bed, hands on her thin shoulders, turning her towards him. She stared up at him the same way she had that first time in the bar. Surprise and curiosity wrapped into one.

          "Part of life is loss, but part of life is learning to live with that and finding yourself again. You can't go back to that place you remember in your mind, but you can stay here." He paused. "You can stay with me."

           She stared at him for a moment longer, Sam could feel the conflicting feelings running through her mind and for just a second, just one second, he thought she would stay. Thought she would climb back into bed with him and this would soon be just another strange memory. He thought maybe he wasn't going to lose _her_ too. But all too quickly he felt her resolve conquer everything else and she stepped away from him. Sam felt the distance between them like a lost limb, felt it running through his blood and bones.

          "I can't. I'm sorry." She said, taking one last look at him. Then she was gone. As if she had never been there at all.

         Sam collapsed back onto his bed and stared at the blank ceiling, imagining that he was falling into the dark alone.

 


	12. Chapter 12

_Chapter 11:_

 

     The sudden transportation of his ship had sent Dean falling back into his chair. They were flying through space faster than he could imagine, then suddenly they stopped. "Report!"

      "All hull breaches fixed. Escape pods all back on the ship along with the crew. Reactor breach has stopped." She looked up at Dean. "The warp core is functioning normally. All damage to the ship has been fixed. It's like nothing even happened."

       Dean looked over to where Cas was still standing. The look on his face was easy to read, guilt.

       "Where are we?" Dean said.

       "We're orbiting Vulcan sir" one of the ensign's in charge of navigation said. "We're being hailed."

       "On screen." A Vulcan in full traditional robes of browns and greens stood in front of Dean. She had the same straight Vulcan haircut in deep brown.

       "U.S.S Impala. We did not chart your arrival. Do you need assistance?"

       "I'm Dean Winchester, captain. Our arrival was...unexpected."

       "Unexpected would not be the word I would have used. Please move your ship to our space dock. We will want to speak with you."

       Dean had a feeling that the vulcans wouldn't just understand about the whole Q space battle thing and he didn't think they'd understand his choice to keep Cas on the ship. He definitely didn't think Starfleet Command would, and probably wouldn't appreciate the whole covering up what they were doing thing either. He had a feeling the battle with Lilith was just the beginning and he still wasn't even close to understanding the whole story. He had to think fast.

        "Yeah, we'll dock our ship. If it wouldn't be too much trouble for your people to look her over, see that she's all up to speed, that would be helpful." The Vulcan nodded her assent. "I do have another request though. Before I speak to any of your people about our arrival, I need to speak to Ambassador Picard."

        The Vulcan's eyebrows twitched slightly. "The ambassador is a very busy man. I am not sure he will have the time."

         "Tell him my name, he'll make the time." She stared at him through the screen for another moment before nodding,

         "I will do so." She said and then the connection stopped, screen returning to show them orbiting Vulcan.

         "Move us to their space-dock." Dean said.

         "Yes sir" the ensign who had spoken earlier said.

        Dean looked over to where Cas was still standing. Taking a deep breath he said. "Do you want to tell me what the hell just happened?"

         Cas's brows furrowed, his head tilting slightly to the side. "We were in danger. The ship was going to be destroyed. I stopped it."

         "You stopped it." Dean said. He took another deep breath and ran a hand through his short hair. "I suppose you transported us here too." Cas nodded. "We'll first, thanks, for not letting us blow up in the middle of nowhere." Cas's eyes widened fractionally, as if he hadn't expected Dean to thank him. "Second." Dean said. "Why in god's name did you pick Vulcan of all places? Now every person in Starfleet is going to hear about our little jaunt through half of Federation space." Cas tilted his head farther to the side his eyes falling somewhere on the wall behind Dean.

       "I do not know. It felt like the right choice."

        "It felt like-" Dean paused. "Ok. Well, maybe it is. At least Picard is here. He can help us sort this whole mess out, seeing as he's the only person in easy access that has contact with your kind." He said waving at Cas.

        "I am aware of the ambassador's contact with one of my brother's. However I do not know how you are so sure he will be here."

        Jo eyed him as well. "Actually, Captain, I was wondering that too."

        Dean smiled. "Oh, he'll definitely come. He served with my father."

 

...

 

      As it happened, the ship Picard had captained before he was an ambassador was also in orbit around Vulcan. Dean caught a glimpse of the sleek hull of the Enterprise as he pulled his own ship into the space dock. Just as Dean had expected, the ambassador had agreed to meet with him and what better place than the Enterprise.

      If Dean was honest with himself he was a bit nervous about boarding the Federation's flagship. The Impala was a beautiful and well-built marvel and Dean loved her more than any other ship in the whole galaxy. But, Dean knew a lot about ships, had been an engineer before he was captain, and could appreciate a good ship when he saw one

       He had never met the new captain of the Enterprise, but had heard quite a bit about him, everyone had. Captain Data, along with being an excellent captain and leader, was also an android. Everyone had heard about Data's assignment as Captain of the Federation's flagship and there were a few who had not agreed with it. But, with Data's successful run as captain, the arguments had started to slowly die out.

       He stood on the transport, Jo to his right, and Cas to his left. Truthfully, Dean had debated bringing Cas with them, but he was an important part of what had occurred in the last few weeks and couldn't simply be left behind. He was aware of Cas's blue eyes boring into the back of his skull but attempted to ignore it.

       Charlie was manning the transporter controls, having said something to the effect of "I don't want anyone screwing up an important transport," and was now eyeing the console as if it had personally offended her. When she was finally satisfied she looked up at Dean.

       "Whenever you're ready, Dean."

       He flashed her a quick smile. "Energize." Dean felt the familiar sensation of the transporter, like a tingle down his spine and then he was standing on a different transporter. Staring down at the four people who had come to meet him.

       Picard stood dressed in a simple black tunic over charcoal gray pants. Dean thought he didn't look much different than the last time he saw the man. Ambassador Picard smiled in his usual serious way saying "Dean Winchester, I don't believe I have seen you since you joined the academy."

       "The last time was my second day at the academy, I must have been a wreck."

       "Perhaps a small bit. But you have come very far since then, Captain." Picard said.

       "Thank you, ambassador, it has been an honor serving." Dean said straightening up and pulling his hands behind his back.

        "I'm sure it has. He turned to the man on his right. I believe introductions are your privilege."

         The man was tall, wearing the typical Captain's uniform. His skin was pale with a shiny almost yellow cast. He smiled at Dean warmly, his yellow eyes sizing him up.

         "I am Captain Data, this is my associate and good friend Geordie LaForge." He said, indicating a dark skinned man slightly shorter in stature than Data himself. The man nodded to Dean

          "Nice to meet you Captain Winchester." He said.

          "You too." Dean said trying to contain his excitement. "I've seen some of your ship designs, they're spectacular. I didn't expect to see you here." Geordie smiled, clearly amused.

          "It's always nice to meet a fan. I was actually at a conference here on Vulcan about some new ship designs that are in the works. Data here was kind enough to give me a lift."

          "I am afraid it was not about kindness. I was assigned to this mission." Data said.

          "Yeah, but you volunteered for it."

          "Yes, I did." Data said, raising his eyebrows.

           "Perhaps we should get on with the introductions." Picard suggested. Dean thought it must be strange, serving on Starships your whole life and then not being on one any more.

           Data turned to a woman with long auburn red hair that fanned out in subtle waves. She wore engineering uniform, the same as Charlie's and Dean couldn't help being reminded of her. "This is my chief engineer Anna Milton."

         "Pleased to meet you Captain Dean Winchester." She said, and Dean knew that her resemblance to Charlie was completely superficial. Something in her manner was strange to Dean but he couldn't quite pin it down.

         "And you as well." Dean said. He saw her eyes flicker from him to behind him where Dean knew Cas stood, then back to Dean. He resisted the urge to look at Cas, Turning instead to his right to introduce Jo. "This is my first officer Commander Joanna Harvelle."

          "I have not had the opportunity to meet many Bajorans though I have served with a few." Data said.

          "There aren't a lot of us in Starfleet yet." Jo said. "It's unfortunate because I can't think of anything else I'd rather be doing." She said standing straight. Dean also thought he couldn't think of anything else she would be better at, besides perhaps, being a captain.

          "And this is Castiel." Dean said turning to Cas. He was surprised to find Cas's eyes not on him but locked on Anna. He didn't seem to have heard Dean at all. "Uh, Cas." He said. Cas seemed to slowly come out of himself and looked to Dean. "I am sorry, Captain."

        "I believe the fault is mine, Castiel." They both looked around to see that Anna had spoken.

        "I don't understand." Dean said.

        "I have a feeling this will be a rather long discussion and may be best brought elsewhere." Picard said. His voice wasn't loud but it carried the weight of having given a lifetime of commands.

        "Of course." Data said. "The briefing room has been made ready."

 

...

 

          Cas took the seat to the left of Dean, Jo having taken the right. The ambassador sat next to Jo at the head of the long oval table. The Captain, Data, had taken the seat across from Dean. Geordie LaForge sat across from Jo, leaving Anna to sit across from Cas. He still couldn't believe Anna was here, of all times and places. He didn't know how he had missed her presence so close to him. She smiled gently at him and he turned away.

          He saw her shift in her chair. Turning to face the Ambassador. "Well, Captain Winchester, you asked to speak with me personally. I believe it's time to tell me what you have to talk about." Picard said.

       The explanation of Dean's father's disappearance, their first encounter on Persephonia, their mission to Pelios Station, Dean's own experience with Gabriel, and then his fight with Lilith, took longer than Cas had thought. It was hard to believe all of that had happened in such a sort period of time, it felt longer to Cas but most things did. Jo interjected more information when necessary. Cas himself said nothing, mostly watching Anna from across the table and looking away quickly whenever she looked back.

       "We'll, that's quite a story." Picard said, leaning back in his chair. "Section 31 doesn't seem much like the John Winchester I knew. But it has been a long time. "What I am more concerned about is your friend and what he's doing here instead of the Continuum." Picard said looking over at Castiel.

        "Q informed you of the continuum?" Cas said, voice low.

        "He did."

        "I have a question." Geordie said from his seat farther up the table. "I thought all Q's were called Q."

        Cas looked at him, head tilted to the side. Cas thought it was a strange question but answered it anyway. "We are."

       "But Captain Winchester called you Castiel. Commander Milton did too, actually."

       He glanced over at Anna who had done the same and quickly looked away. "I am also Castiel." Cas said still confused.

       "Did Q have another name?" Geordie pressed forward, evidently still as confused as Cas.

       Cas's eyebrows knit together. "He was Q." Geordie still confused sat back in his chair looking more confused than when he started.

      "There is something more important than names here." Anna said, standing up from her seat.

      "Of course, we were wondering about your presence here and your knowledge of Castiel."

      "Data asked me to come, I have quite a bit of knowledge about the Continuum." she looked over at Cas. Her hazel eyes met his blue ones. Cas thought she almost looked a little sad. "More importantly, Castiel is my brother."

       Cas looked away from her quickly. "I don't have a sister." He said, attempting to sound calm and logical about it. He was sure he failed though, anger slipping into his gruff voice.

        "Just because I left doesn't mean you stopped being my brother Castiel." When Cas didn't respond she persevered. "Castiel. You know what it was like, I had to go I-"

       Data, who had been mostly silent since they walked into the room, reached out and placed a hand on Anna's arm. "Anna, this is something that can be discussed later." He said simply.

       "Yes, captain." She responded quickly.

       "You knew about this, didn't you Data." Picard asked curiously.

       "I did. I met Anna after her promotion to Lieutenant. She is very good with an engine and computers. I believed she would be an asset to the ship. She has not proven me wrong."

      "Regardless of whether I'm a Q or not, I have worked very hard to get this far. No Q powers involved."

      "That's easy to say." Picard responded "but a bit hard to believe. I have it under good authority that your kind have some difficulty with interfering."

      A smile crept onto her lips "That is true, ambassador, but I'm basically a run away, I couldn't risk using my powers or another Q would find me." Anna said, looking fondly at Data from where she stood. "Data has been helping me adjust to human life."

      "Is that why you didn't know she was here?" Jo said looking at Cas.

      "Most likely." He said.

      "I could tell you were coming from a mile away." Anna said smiling fondly at Cas.

      "A mile is not a very long distance. Perhaps-"

      "It's an expression, Castiel." She said. "You always were a little thick-headed.

      "And you were always quick to-" he stopped suddenly. "We have more important matters to be discussing."

       "Yeah, like this ship that attacked you." Geordie said.

       "We have the specifications of it." Dean said.

       "I can show them to you now if you like. We can pull them up from engineering." Jo said, glancing at Dean who nodded to her.

      "That'd be great, I'd like to get started on them right away." Geordie followed Jo to the door.

      "Jo, ask Charlie to lend a hand, I think she was already analyzing the data when we left.

      "Yes, sir." She said and walked out the door with Geordie.

      "We should also discuss the captain of that vessel, Lilith. Who is she, and who is commanding her? How did she managed to obtain such a large and advanced vessel without anyone knowing about it." Data said.

       "Lilith is a changeling, they are easy to identify." Cas said, remembering the feeling of the Impala tearing apart and of Lilith herself, obsession with Lucifer her motivating factor.

       "The changelings went back to their own space after the Dominion War." Dean said. "Have they decided to attack again?"

       "I do not believe so. From what I felt of Lilith, she is part of a small group that has allied themselves with my brother." Cas said.

       "Even without the full dominion force behind them, he will be difficult to stop." Anna said to Cas.

       "Why would your brother be interested in bringing a warship into Federation space." Picard said, looking between Anna and Cas. Cas looked up at his sister. She seemed to be debating something.

       "I haven't seen Lucifer for a long time. More time than I can explain." She looked to Cas. He had no desire to tell this story, he had actually been avoiding even thinking about it since he met Lucifer on Persephonia, in what seemed liked an eternity. Cas looked down at his hands, silent.

        Anna, always good at reading others, nodded slightly. "There was a war, between the Q."

       "Yes, we heard about that, I read Captain Janeway's report."Picard said.

       "That was only part of it." Anna said frowning. "It was mostly an aftermath of the original conflict. There have been a few. Most you wouldn't have even noticed as they occurred in the Continuum." She sighed leaning her weight on one foot. "It's hard to explain this to mortals, no offense. You just don't have the same scope of vision."

        "You can explain the basics, Anna." Cas said. "They can easily understand that."

        "Alright. I'll start from the beginning. We had two older brothers. Q don't really have leaders, not the way mortals do, but if we did. Michael and Lucifer would be the closest thing. We were actually very happy for a long time, going around the universe, watching mortals rise and fall. It was wonderful." She paused, eyes far away. "Lucifer always looked up to Michael. More than anyone, they were very different though. Michael was always so stern and logical. And Lucifer, he had a good heart. He loved his family more than anything in the whole universe. 

       They had a falling out. No one even remembers what it was about. But they fought over it. Both too stubborn to back down. The Q took sides, one by one, and copied the example of our oldest brothers. The war raged on, many were lost; many were born just for the conflict. Those we're the worst. They were lost before they had even lived. The conflict started spilling into the mortal universe, galaxies were wiped from existence. It had to stop.

      Finally Michael's faction turned the tide of the war. Every fight, every battle won. Lucifer was captured and anyone allied with him, was killed, surrendered, or fled. I was there at the judgement day." She looked at Cas, eyes still cast down, but he could feel her watching him. "We all were. Lucifer begged Michael for mercy. But Michael was never the merciful type. He cast Lucifer into the void, where nothing can ever exist, to spend the rest of time alone." Anna slowly settled herself back down into her seat. And was quiet for a long time. Finally she spoke. "That's it. I left in one of the aftermath skirmishes. I was tired of war. As far as I'm concerned, my home was lost when the first battle started."

         There was a complete silence in the room. No one spoke. Finally Dean looked to Cas. "That doesn't explain Lucifer's involvement now."

         "I do not know how he did it, but Lucifer escaped from the void and has allied himself with Lilith and those loyal to her. He is charismatic, most mortals trust him as soon as he speaks. He was always that way. I am guessing that his plan is to find a way back to the continuum."

         "And how does he plan to do that." Picard said from the head of the table. "Knowing what he intends will make it easier to stop him."

         "It's impossible to break back into the continuum after being cast out, it would be just as closed to him as to any mortal." Anna said quickly.

          "It's not impossible." Cas said quietly. Anna looked at him strangely, he could feel her confusion wash over him. She had always been his closest sibling, they had done everything together, he would have known exactly what she was thinking almost before she knew it herself and she would know the same. He hadn't known that she would leave though. He still felt the bitterness over it. He took a deep breath, remembering to concentrate on the important things first, and on the things he could change. Just as Sarak had written.

       "The only way in is to rip a hole in space-time. He will need massive amounts of energy to accomplish this. I don't know how he will do it but I fear that his methods will kill countless mortals. I left the continuum to find a way to stop him."

       "You are all Q but you do not have the same level of power?" Data asked. His eyebrows raised.

      "Lucifer is very old, he has gained power relative to his age." Anna said. "Comparatively, Castiel and I are like children. We don't have enough power to stop him alone, even if he has been weakened by the void."

       Cas looked at Dean. "That is why I needed to find Gabriel. He is the only Q that has left the continuum that has the amount of power we need."

       "Let me guess, he said no." Anna said, frowning.

       "More or less." Dean said crossing his arms. "He told us absolutely not and then zapped us back to my ship."

        Anna sighed. "I'm not surprised. Gabriel looked up to Lucifer more than anyone. They were really close. During the judgement, Gabriel had begged Michael to spare Lucifer too, even though they had fought on opposite sides. I think he was hurt the most by the war. He was the first to leave."

        "Realistically, we have very little chance in stopping Lucifer without his help." Cas said.

        "We have faced some bad odds in our time in the universe." Picard said. "But we've come out alright. I don't think I'm ready to give up just yet.  Let's see how Geordie's analysis is coming." Picard said standing from his position slowly. Cas knew logically that these people, Dean, and the ambassador, and even Data were just mortals. He knew that the chance of them stopping Lucifer was practically impossible. But Cas saw the resolve on all their faces and felt just a small flicker of hope.


	13. Chapter 13

_Chapter 12:_

 

       Dean walked into the engineering room of his ship and saw Charlie and Geordie, heads bowed together over one of the consoles. They were speaking animatedly, Charlie tossing her hands into the air as she spoke, Geordie nodding along seriously. He couldn't hear what they were saying from across the room but something about their movements made Dean nostalgic, longing for a time when Sam and him spoke that way. Cas stepped to his side looking at him to see why he had stopped.

        Dean felt the pull he had always felt towards Cas but shook it away, reminding himself that those feelings were for a Vulcan that didn't exist, not this Q stranger. Anna had accompanied them as well. Data and Picard staying behind on the Enterprise to see what other information they could find and to apprise Starfleet of the situation.

         Anna was looking around at the room, her red hair shining brighter under the room's lights. Dean remembered Cas mentioning a sister to him that he was close to, Annael. He thought this must be the same one. She looked over and caught him looking at her. She tilted her head to the side and Dean wondered if all of Cas's family did that. She turned her head back and started walking over to where Charlie and Geordie stood.

          As Dean approached, Charlie looked up at him, she didn't smile but her eyes were bright, alive. "Dean, Commander LaForge is a engineering genius!"

         "I'm not a commander anymore _Lieutenant commander_ Bradbury."

          "I said it was just Charlie."

          "And I said it was just Geordie." Charlie sighed exasperated.

          "Alright fine, _Geordie_ is an engineering genius. Together we were able to analyze the scans and we think we can come up with a way to shield our hull from their attacks. Still working on a way to attack back though."

          "The scans you took of their ship are amazing. I don't know how you did it while under attacked." Geordie said to Dean, who actually wasn't sure about that either. They had taken some preliminary scans and Benny had taken some while trying to find a weak spot but otherwise...

           Charlie looked pointedly at Cas a smile curving up the sides of her lips. "I think we might have had some help."

           "Right... Well keep working on how to damage their ship, I have a feeling we'llbe seeing it again." Dean walked out of the engine room then turned to Cas as soon as the door's had shut. "Find a way to kill that brother of yours before he blows up half the universe."

        "It is not that simple, Dean." Cas said, stepping close. "Not only does it involve killing _my brother_ but I don't have the power."

        "I'm sorry you have to kill your brother, Cas." Dean said stepping close so he could stare down his nose into Cas's fierce gaze. "But if you weren't prepared for that maybe you should have stayed at home and left us alone."

        "You and your crew would be dead if it was not for me." Cas said, voice going low.

        "We only got attacked because you were on the goddamn ship. If I thought that Lilith _wouldn't_ have blown us out of the sky if I handed you over, you better believe that's were you'd be right now." Dean said voice rising. He hadn't meant to say that, he knew, soul-deep, that it was a lie. Cas looked at him blue eyes narrow, then was gone.

        "He's still on the ship." Anna said from behind him. Dean spun around. He had forgotten she was there. "Can I talk to you? In private?"

       "Yeah, sure, we'll uh... Go to my ready room." She nodded and then they were suddenly there. He sighed; one Q was too many as far as he was concerned. "What happened to not using your powers?"

       "With me teaming up to fight Lucifer, every Q in existence will know where I am. This isn't really the time to practice being human."

      "What did you want to talk to me about," Dean said, choosing to just move past the weirdness. He walked around his desk and sat in his chair. Taking a quick glance over at the picture of his mom, smiling happily at the camera. The longing for her hit him like a lead weight in his stomach. He knew if she were here, she would know what to do. More than some dumb kid who liked to call himself a captain of a starship.

        "I thought I needed to have a talk to you about Castiel. Seeing as I'm his older sister and all." Anna said.

        "Is this really going to be a 'keep your hands of my little brother or I'll kill you' talk‘? Cause let me tell you, I've already had enough of those for a lifetime. "

        Anna brushed a hand through her long red hair. "Castiel is plenty old enough to make his own decisions. But I do feel the need to talk to you seeing as he is head over heels in love with you."

         Dean felt like another lead weight had been dropped into his chest. "He said he needed-" he stopped before he got to far down that path. " I don't know what you think is going on between us. I barely know him."

         Anna stared at him with narrowed eyes. "Just because your angry at him doesn't mean that there's nothing between you two."

         Dean threw up his hands. "You and Gabriel both. It's like your trying to marry him off to me or something. Listen." Dean said starting to stand. "It was nice talking to you but I have some important planning to do. So if you could pleas-"

        "Sit down." Anna said, politely enough, but Dean suddenly found himself pulled back into his chair. "Now, regardless of what you say, I have eyes. Why are you two fighting?"

        Dean crossed his arms. "We're not." Anna glared at him.

        "Then I suppose that thing in the hallway was just a friendly conversation." She huffed arms crossed. "We can stay here all day if you like. I really don't have anything better to do."

        "Fine. You want to know? He lied about who he was. Even if I thought I knew him before I don't now." Anna's eyes softened.

        "You have to understand, Castiel has had very limited contact with other species. He spent most of his time in the Continuum watching different worlds and their people instead of actually being there. Trust isn't really bred in the Continuum, especially not since the war. But I _saw_ the way he looked at you, like you hung the moon, even when your fighting," she said leaning forward in her chair to look at him insistently with her hazel-green eyes. "Just...just don't treat him too harshly ok. I know he didn't mean to hurt you. And I know it's weird to just jump into a relationship with someone but who knows. It might be worth it." Dean didn't respond and after a moment she stood to leave.

       As she hit the button to open the door he said "you know he talked about you once. I think maybe you should be having a conversation with him, too."

 

...

 

      Cas was pouring over the computer's database, looking for any instance in which a mortal had taken on a Q and won, because, without Gabriel, that would be close enough to what happened. It was difficult work though. Any instance would likely not be labeled as a Q but some other kind of phenomenon.

      And then there was Lilith's ship to contend with, he could likely protect the Impala from getting destroyed again but he didn't think taking out Lilith's ship would be so easy. He was sure Lucifer would have taken precautions against an attack by his own kind. Luckily, Cas was also sure that he would have underestimated the mortals and would not have taken as many precautions against their attacks.

        It wouldn't matter what they did if they didn't kill Lucifer though. He would just find another army and come back to finish his work. Cas had no doubt in Lucifer's convincing skills. It was how he had gotten the Q to fight Michael long past the point of even knowing what the conflict was about.

        Cas felt the displacement of air that signaled Anna's arrival. He didn't turn around to face her. He didn't need to. "Have you come to apologize?"

        "For leaving? No, I'm not sorry I left, I'm sure you know that Castiel." She said, not moving from the spot she appeared.

        "I thought as much."

         "I'm sorry." She said, her voice filling the small room. "Sorry that I left you behind. I should have taken you with me, I know that." Cas didn't say anything. "I just, wanted to get out without too much notice. I wanted to be long gone before anyone got a chance to stop me. And I knew that you wouldn't have come."

         "I might have." Cas bit out.

         "No." She said and Cas could hear every ounce of longing in her voice and knew it was true. "No you wouldn't have." She walked closer to him run her long fingered hands through his messy hair. "Little Castiel, always so loyal. That was something I always loved about you. I'm glad to see that hasn't changed." Cas thought about how much he had missed her and remembered what Tes'sa had read to him not so long ago. Maybe it was time, he thought, to let go of the past. He didn't want to become the next Lucifer. Never forgiving, never forgetting.

         "Do you think we'll make it out of this alive?" He asked her, finally turning to face his sister.

         "Maybe. With a little luck. Let me see what you're looking at."

 

...

 

       There was a ring at his ready room door. "Come in." He said without looking up. The door opened, then shut once his visitor had entered.

        "Uh...Dean?" The visitor said and Dean's head shot up so fast he thought he might have gotten whiplash. His brother stood in the door, awkward in his height, brown hair longer than since he had last seen him. He had a messenger bag slung over his shoulder and was wearing what Dean had always though of his default clothes, a t-shirt with a button down sweater over the top, and loose fitting pants.

        "Sammy!" Dean said getting up from his chair to greet his brother. Sam enveloped him into a hug, grasping his shoulders tight for a few seconds before letting him go. Dean stood back to look at Sam, and the closeness told him something he hadn't seen from his chair. Sam looked tired, dark circles ringed his eyes, and his shoulders hung forward as if he had just been in a fight and lost. "How did you get up here? Not that I'm not pleased."

       "Jo got in contact with me. Thought you might've wanted to see me since you were here. By the way, I didn't know you were coming."

      Dean frowned. "It was a little unexpected. But I have to say, would you have even known if I had sent you a message. Sammy, it's been almost seven months since I last spoke to you. I only knew you were still alive because of your pointy eared friends down there."

      Sam took a seat in one of Dean's chairs. Dean opting to lean against his desk. "I know I'm sorry, I just-" he paused, eyes suddenly far away. "It's a long story, but one I think you need to hear. I-"

        The console on his door rang a second time. Dean wondered who would be at his door now. Everyone on the bridge would have known Dean was talking to someone already. The console rang again. "Come in." Dean finally said. The door opened to reveal Cas, a PADD in his hand.

        "Dean, I think I have an idea about-" he stopped when he saw Sam. "I am sorry, I did not know your brother was here. I just-"

        "You're Castiel." Sam blurted out. From the look on his face Dean could tell he didn't mean too.

        Cas looked confused. "Dean, I thought you were not able to contact your brother."

        "I wasn't." He said.

        "Dean, didn't tell me about you. It was..." Sam trailed off.

         Dean ran a hand through his short hair. "Cas, I think you'd better come in." Cas nodded, stepping through the door and sitting in the chair next to Sam.

         "Now what did you want to tell me."

 

...

 

      Cas listened in a mixture of amazement and confusion to Sam's story about Lucifer and could barely believe it. The parts about Lucifer coming to Sam in some type of visage of his late fiancée didn't surprise Cas. The part about Lucifer hanging around Sam as some type of way to ensure his survival didn't surprise Cas. The part about Lucifer being unstable enough to have made a connection between Sam and himself did surprise Cas however. So did Lucifer's apparent regret for using the human.

         "That doesn't seem like Lucifer. At least not the Lucifer I knew." Cas said, leaning his head into his open palm. If Lucifer was capable of love and regret, even after the war, even after falling through the void, how was Cas going to be able to kill him.

          Sam watched him and slowly seemed to sense his doubts. "Lucy...Lucifer, still has every intention of doing whatever it takes to return home. I felt that from her." He looked down at his large open palms. "I'm sorry, but I don't think there is any way to convince her to stop."

       Cas was amazed at this strange human. He could see the sadness Lucifer had left in his wake and Sam, a complete stranger, was trying to comfort him. Cas wondered how these Winchesters had even come to be in the world. He looked at Dean to find the man watching Cas closely, it sent a strange pleasant chill down his spine and he quickly looked away.

       "I am sorry too, Sam, that Lucifer used you." Sam's eyes, the same color as Dean's, widened slightly.

       "Don't be. I'm not sorry that I met her. Just sorry it ended this way. But after seeing all those things..." He paused and took a deep breath. "I can see why she won't back down."

      "Surrender was never in her nature." Cas said, remembering Lucifer in the desert on Persephonia, not so long ago.

      "I guess that explains why you maintained radio silence for 7 months." Dean said, and Cas could hear the anger he was trying to conceal. Apparently Sam did too.

      "I'm sorry Dean. It was just difficult for some reason, with Lucy there. I just, didn't know what to tell you."

       "You could've said a lot of things, Sam."

       Sam sighed. " I know. I know. I just didn't want to disappoint you."

       "Disappoint me?! What the hell are you talking about?"

       "You were so excited about me going to Vulcan. I didn't want you to think I was just going to go run off with some girl ...you know...so soon after Jess."

       Cas saw all the anger go out of Dean's face. "Damn-it Sammy. I wouldn't think that. I just want you to be happy. And if being happy is dropping your schooling and running off with a girl you like then that's what I want! Even if that means you won't come on adventures on a starship...with me."

       "Like we talked about when we were little." Sam said smiling. Cas saw the sadness still there, beneath the smile, and saw that expression mirrored on Dean's and thought of the family he had left behind. He knew what he had to do now. Was as sure as he would ever be. He stood up.

        "Dean, I just realized there is a little more research I have to do. I'll let you catch up with your brother." He saw the protest forming on Dean's lips but Cas was gone before he voiced them.


	14. Chapter 14

_Chapter 13:_

 

      Dean was still talking to Sam in his ready room when the attack happened. The hull of the ship shook suddenly and Dean was up and out the door to the bridge before he even thought about it. On the view screen Lilith's ship came into view. "Status report, now?"

        "Shields are holding, sir." Jo said from her place beside his chair. "Charlie and Geordie's analysis of the shielding was correct. Enterprise is charging weapons, the Vulcans are sending three frigates to meet us."

        "Good. Charlie!" Dean said over the comm. "What's our weapon status?"

        "Geordie and I thought we found a way to adapt our weapons to accommodate for their shields."

         "That didn't work last time, what makes you think it's going to work now?"

         "They have some kind of temporal shielding that completely deflects any fire from penetrating because it is in a state of temporal flux. That's why it didn't work when we changed the frequency but I think if we send our phaser fire through a temporarily constructed warp field it'll be able to break through.

          "Charlie, that's not going to work more than once, we don't have enough power for it." The bridge shook again.

           "Shields still holding." Jo said.

           "I know, I know, but it'll work for a long enough amount of time to be able to transport someone to their ship." Charlie pleaded into her comm.

           "So that person can take down the shields from within."

           "Yes!" She practically screamed into the comm. "Then the ship is free game. We could have their ship powered down before they have a chance to get it back up."

           Dean took a deep breath, he knew the risks of a mission like this, he didn't think more than two people could go, one of which had to be skilled enough to take down the shields on a ship they had never been on. It was likely that the team sent could be captured or killed.

           "There's no other way?"

            "Not without more time to research and we just don't have that right now." Another shock wave flew through the ship.

            "Shields at 85%" Jo said. "Whatever your going to do, do it quick, we don't have the shield capacity for a full frontal assault by another ship."

           "Charlie, you're the only one familiar enough to do this, you know that right." Dean said into his comm.

           "Yeah, I know. I'll be careful. I'm setting up the charges, they'll be ready to fire in two minutes, I'll be in the transporter room ready to go." She said, cutting the comm link.

           "I would like to go with her." Dean whipped his head around. Sam had stepped out of Dean's ready room, a phaser he must have kept in his messenger bag in hand."

           "Sam, you're a civilian. I can't send you."

           "Dean, you know as well as I do that you need everyone here and I'm a better shot than you are. You need someone whose good at hand to hand combat and isn't needed here. Let me go."

         "Permission to speak freely, sir." Jo said from his side. Dean nodded. "He's right, we need all hands on deck, it's bad enough losing Charlie."

        "He's a civilian, Jo. It's against regulations."

        "What about Cas, it's not like you gave him a battle field promotion and you took him on away missions. This isn't the time for regulations, assign him the title as ensign and send him."

     Dean took as much time as he was allowed to think it out then spat out. "Son of a bitch. You're officially an ensign Sam, get down to the transporter room now, before I change my mind."

         "I'll see you soon Dean." Sam said before running into the turbo-lift and disappearing.

         "You all better be right about this." Dean grumbled to Jo. She smiled at him quickly,

         "I'm always right. Now, I think we have our own problems to worry about."

 

...

 

      Lilith's ship was bigger than Sam had expected. While they had been talking, Dean had shown him the scans he had taken last time they encountered it. But Sam had really only had a chance to take a quick glimpse of them. Luckily Charlie seemed to know them pretty well and had no problems walking down the smooth white corridors and taking turns easily as if she had walked the halls her whole life.

       The ship was strangely quiet, even their footfalls on the smooth charcoal gray floors barely made a noise. Sam had expected immediate resistance to their infiltration but so far there had been nothing. They walked through empty corridor after empty corridor, passing hallways that were devoid of life.

         Sam knew that Lucifer had more allies than just Lilith who Dean had spoken to on his last encounter with the ship. Part of the reason Sam had even volunteered was because he had been in Lucifer's mind, seen her memories. He vividly recalled the image of the woman walking out of that strange gray sea, all in white. And there were others who came out after her, swayed by Lucifer's words and easy promises.

         "The engine room should be just up here. Once we're in I can hack their system and introduce a sub-routine that should cripple their shields." Charlie said, red hair fanning out behind her as she walked quickly down the hall. Sam had heard Dean talk about Charlie a few times and knew that his brother was pretty good friends with 'the expert hacker' as Dean described her. Apparently, aside from hacking, she was a damn good engineer too; able to hold her weight against many of the field’s experts even though she was barely 28. Her nervous and quirky demeanor was the only thing that he had held her back over the years and only because she tended to be dismissed easily.

           As they came to the engine room doors, Sam placed a hand on Charlie's shoulder. She turned to look at him and shook her head like she didn't know why he had stopped her. "Wait a sec, there could be a bunch of people in there ready to fire at us as soon as we open the door. We can stand on either side of the door and open it so no one can shoot us as soon we go through."

          Charlie considered this, then moved to the left of the door, Sam moving to the right. "I thought you were studying to be a lawyer." Charlie said.

          "I am."

          She flashed him a lopsided grin from across the door. "Well your going to be one hell of an interesting lawyer. Remind me to call you next time I get into trouble for hacking a database."

          "Will do." Sam said pushing the control to open the door.

        Sam slowly peaked his head around the corner to examine the situation and was stunned by what he saw. On the floor lay at least fifteen dead humanoids. Sam recognized their cropped brown hair, long pointed ears, and blank staring violet eyes as characteristics of the Vorta, a race genetically altered to serve the changelings, Founders of the Dominion. He had read extensively about them and their role in the Dominion war.

     Sam stepped cautiously into the room, phaser out, just as his father had taught him when he was young. Charlie copied his movements.

       "They're all dead." Charlie said quietly.

       "Yeah. I don't like this. Try and get the shields down while I figure out what happened." He said turning to her. She nodded, walking quickly over to a console. He turned back and knelt by one of the Vorta bodies. Sam found long horizontal marks on the Vorta's neck as if he had been strangled. He turned to another and then another finding the same marks on each one. He stood up, hurrying over toward Charlie, who was tapping furiously on the console.

        "How close are you to finishing?"

        "Close. I've almost got it. I just need to-" there was a whooshing sound from behind Sam and the doors opened again and he turned around. He knew the woman standing in front of him was Lilith. She had straight, white blonde hair and was wearing what looked like a long white robe. But Sam would have known her no matter what form she took. He had seen her essence in Lucifer's mind.

         "Welcome, Samuel Winchester, to my ship. I was hoping I'd get to see you before I blew your brother out of the sky, I have a debt that needs to be repaid."

         "What happened to your crew?" Sam said, a sudden understanding of what happened flashing into his mind. Lilith started to walk toward him; she didn't bother to step over the Vorta bodies, just walked across them as if they were part of the floor.

         "They dared defy me, my people raised them up from small, unintelligent, crawling things. They said I was not a proper changeling, that I had lost my mind when I crossed into your space, but they were wrong. I don't need a crew. I will destroy anything in my master's way." She smiled and Sam was reminded of every nightmare he had as child. Reminded of all the things that crawled through the dark. Long nails and sharp teeth scratching at the bottom of his bed. "That includes you, Sam."

        She moved like lightning, her arms retuning to their natural gelatinous state, flung towards him, he felt a familiar pull in his chest and suddenly he was standing behind her. She whipped around, eyes pure white and snarled. "What kind of trick was that, human?" She lunged at him again and time slowed down. Sam could feel his heart beating a steady rhythm and the pull in his chest that he had felt when Luci was connected to him, mind to mind, envelop him and he understood.

         Suddenly he saw everything. Charlie's sub-routine coursing through the ship taking down the shields at every joint in the computer system. Dean standing, pointing towards the ship on his view-screen yelling to fire at will. Castiel's face distraught and resolved all at once walking on the sands of Vulcan, orange sky hanging high above him, towards a brother he had once loved unconditionally. He saw Lucifer for just a moment. She looked different then he had known her, with the face of a sandy haired man he had never seen, but he knew it was her, with those same storm-blue eyes and the sadness that hung on her like a robe she had worn for so long it had become a part of her. He knew why she couldn't return home, saw the empty hole in her soul and knew that as long as she lived no matter what she saw, or felt, she would always end up alone.

          He saw Lilith too, cut off from the other changelings, alone like she had never been, her very being crying out for the connection she had lost when she took Lucifer's hand. He saw how many she had killed, and saw too, how she was killed. Sam saw the core of what she was, the thread that separated her life and death and pulled.

         All at once time speed back up. Sam watched Lilith, eyes wide hit the ground and transform back into the golden orange liquid that was her original form and Sam knew that she was dead. He saw Charlie pump her fist into the air, then turn around to him, red hair, flying around her. She was on her comm, running toward him, but he couldn't understand what she was saying, everything felt very far away. He felt himself hit the ground but didn't feel it. Everything went black, but for the first time in a long time, he felt like he was at peace. 

     He thought he felt Jess's hands in his brown hair, whispering into his ear.

 

...

 

      Cas knew where Lucifer was as soon as he set his mind to find him. Lucifer hadn't tried to conceal himself at all, as if he wanted Castiel to come and find him. Cas thought back to their conversation on Persephonia. Lucifer had asked him to come with him, to go home together. At the time, Cas had yearned to go back home so much that he had almost accepted Lucifer's offer. The only thing that had stopped him was that he knew Lucifer would destroy everything in the continuum to make it what it once was. An impossible task.

      But during his short time, living with mortals, almost becoming one, he had learned so much. Seen the happiness, and love, and sadness, and strife. All the same feelings as the Q had. He had seen how amazingly kind these mortals could be even when it was hard, and Cas knew that there was so much more to see of the universe. Countless wonders that he hadn't even scratched the surface of in all the time he had been alive.

       He thought of Dean, teaching him to dance, moving to the beat of an all but forgotten song.  Of Tes'sa reading to him from the Teachings of Surak, accepting him as one of her people. He thought of Jo and Benny, laughing together fondly, of Charlie elbow deep into part of the engine. He thought of Dean reunited with his brother. He thought of Dean's green eyes, and the way it had felt when he kissed Cas, freckles dusting his cheeks. He thought of Dean.

        He would do anything before he let any of these people suffer because of Lucifer. Even if that meant he faced his brother alone. Even if that meant he died defending them. Cas had been born a soldier and he would die a soldier.

      Lucifer stood waiting for him on the sands of Vulcan, next to a green sea. He was in the same form he had appeared to Cas in before. His short dirty brown hair and old t-shirt whipped violently in the wind. "Castiel." He said, "Why do I think you're here to kill me instead of to come with me?"

     "It's over, Lucifer. Neither of us are going home." Lucifer narrowed his eyes smiling confidently.

      "You don't have the power to stop me. All you have left is what Gabriel gave to you. I can feel it. You'll die before you get close."

      "It doesn't matter. I will not let you destroy anything else. There will not be another war because of you."

       "Why sacrifice yourself just on the chance of stopping me. These mortals will wither and die in the space of time it takes us to take a breath. Why does it matter if they die? New ones will come along and the cycle will continue."

       "Because they deserve to live, Lucifer, just as much as we do. I will die for them if that is what it takes. I learned something in my time with them."

       "And what's that?" Lucifer said tilting his head up to look down his nose at Cas.

      "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. My desire to live and your desire for revenge don't constitute millions dying."

       Lucifer threw out his arms, palms face out towards Cas. "Come and kill me then, little brother."

       Cas gathered up what little power he had left and slammed into Lucifer. But, just as he had thought, Lucifer was too strong for him. His brother's sheer overwhelming strength enveloped Cas and started to crush him, the bonds holding his mortal form together started to break down.

        Cas let it happen, knowing what he had to do. He thought of Anna, whose powers he had sealed before he left so she wouldn't die here too. He thought of Gabriel, destroyed after the last war and so afraid of another. He thought again of Dean, hugging Sam, and hoped maybe Dean would forgive him, for lying, for leaving. Cas hoped he'd understand.

       Just as the last bond of his mortal vessel cracked apart, Cas felt all his remaining power, things he had locked away in mortal form surge up around him, tearing a hole in time. He threw both of them through it. He felt Lucifer's panic surge up as they fell through, time, through space, hurtling downward together. He saw Lucifer's being like pieces broken and grown together so much that he couldn't tell what the original had looked like. He grasped onto it feeling his own being fading away fast.

       He thought of Dean, walking out from behind the ruins of people long dead, into the open desert wasteland and finding Castiel. He didn't want Dean to die; he didn't want Dean to lose any more friends or family. He wanted Dean to sail his ship in peace and happiness for as long as his mortal body would allow. He wanted Dean to grow old in space and his body to become part of the stars he loved so dearly.

        He felt the core of Lucifer's pulse in his hands. He took it gently from his older brother who watched him, blue eyes wide. He saw all of Lucifer in that moment, all the anger and hate and betrayal and most of all he saw the love he had for his family and the sadness and fear it had left in its wake as he watched the stars go out one by one.  "Tell Sam.." Lucifer's voice echoed in the expanse of time and space "tell him that he was right and that I... I really was sorry." Lucifer closed his eyes and Cas watched him disappear into the dark as if he was never there at all.

        Cas fell slowly, alone now, and thought that maybe dying wasn't as bad as he thought.


	15. Chapter 15

_Chapter 14:_

 

      Cas dreamed that a bright golden light overtook him as he fell. The light picked him, bearing his weight aloft as if he was something small and fragile. He dreamed of a warm place that he had known when he was young, filled with light and music. He dreamed of loss and the color green and Anna playing a strange curved string instrument, her long red hair falling in waves around her pale face.

      He dreamed of Lucifer running, Cas's hand in his as they leapt of a cliff, together and un-afraid. His laughter spiraling up into the quiet air. He dreamed he watched his brother fall and just as he was about to hit the blue earth below, spread large feathered wings, brighter than any color ever seen by a mortal and watched him fly away. He called out but Lucifer didn't turn, just flew into the distance and then was gone. He dreamed his brother turned to stardust and was reborn again.

       He opened his eyes, bright white light stung them, and made them water. He didn't close them, though, forcing himself to keep his eyes wide open. As they cleared he felt a heavy weight in both his hands. His head felt like lead but he turned it to the right anyway. Anna sat, hair pulled back into a low braid, she had a PADD in one hand but Cas couldn't make out what she was reading. She turned her head when she heard him move and smiled at him widely. "Gabe! Gabe! He's waking up." There was a muffled noise from his other side.  

        "What? Uh...yeah of course he is! I told you he would didn't I." He felt the weight in his other hand disappear as Gabriel let go of his hand and walked to the other side of the bed.

       Anna looked up to Gabriel, then back to Cas. "Don't listen to him, he was actually really worried." Cas looked up to Gabriel who was frowning, a half-eaten lollipop in one hand.

       "I knew you were stronger than you looked. I had no doubts." He crossed his arms, lollipop hanging loosely in his fingers. "But seriously, what'd you think you were doing. You could've at least let Anna come." He smiled cockily. "Or you could've just waited till the cavalry arrived."

       "You said you were not coming." Cas said and he was surprised at how hoarse his voice came out.

       "Yeah well... I thought about you charging into battle and thought, 'well I certainly don't want that to be how the whole universe thinks of the Q.' They'd start laughing every time they saw us coming." Gabriel shrugged. "Lucky for you I came when I did or you'd probably still be flailing around in the void out there." Gabriel didn't mention the fact that Cas probably wouldn't be anywhere at all if Gabriel hadn't shown up.

      "I think that is enough false bravado for one day, Gabriel." A familiar voice said from somewhere out of Cas's view. Gabriel smiled sheepishly and stepped aside to reveal Tes'sa looking no worse for wear after the battle Cas had been absent for. He had a sudden thought and tried to sit-up but everything ached and he had to drop back onto the bed.

        "You are not well enough to get out of bed freely," she said while she scanned him.

        "But Dean! And Jo and Charlie and-" The look Tes'sa gave him, one eyebrow raised mouth formed into a thin line stopped him from continuing.

        "We had a few injuries but were fortunate enough to have no deaths. The crew is well and everyone has been returned to active duty save for you and one other." She said.

        "Who is the other person?" It was Tes'sa's turn to stand aside as Sam, forehead wrapped in a white bandage, limped into view. He flashed a lopsided grin and raised a hand in greeting.

        "We're just not that easy to kill, huh?" He said voice raspy. "I saw what you did, down on Vulcan. That was pretty stupid as far as plans go. That makes you and my brother perfect for each other." He said and this time the grin reached his eyes.

        "Wh-how?" Cas mumbled, not sure what he wanted to ask first. He felt his cheeks heat up. To his right Anna smiled at him, trying not to laugh.

         "You're turning green!" She said as Gabriel took a few steps away. Cas could still hear his muffled laughter, though. Sam and Tes'sa were kind enough to ignore it. Sam ran a hand through his wavy brown hair.

       "We think that when I was connected with..." He paused and Cas saw the smile flicker for just a second. "...with Lucifer, that she accidentally transferred some of her power to me."

       "Ironically enough it probably saved this kid's life." Gabriel said returning to stand next to Sam. Cas thought the height difference was almost comical and may have even laughed if it was a different time.

       "Somehow that kind of seems like Lucifer." Cas mumbled.

       "Yeah." Gabriel said shrugging. " Strangely kind one minute, great big bag of dicks the next. That's Lucifer all right, some things never change."

       "I'm sorry for your loss." Sam said looking Cas straight in the eyes. "I'm sure it wasn't easy.

       "It was not." Cas said, he felt a catch in his throat that made it hard to swallow and didn't know what it meant. "But thank you." Sam nodded, leaning his head down to stare at the floor. Cas was struck by the sheer kindness of this human. Cas's brother had used this human and then abandoned him, hurt and alone. But then the same human was standing at the foot of his bed in the med-bay and saying how sorry he was, for _Cas_! He felt a thin smile curve up his lips and the difficulty he was having swallowing increased. Anna leaned over and wiped the moisture growing at the corner of his eyes away.

       "I think it's nap time for Cassy." Gabriel said, making shooing motions to everyone else. "I think it's time we gave him some space." Cas was going to protest but he felt a wave of tiredness overtake him like his bones were to heavy to hold up. He nodded once before drifting off into a dreamless sleep.

     

...

 

     Dean paced up and down the length of his living quarters. Sam, bandage removed from his head just that morning, sat on Dean's couch a book written in Vulcan open. Sam had been attempting to take notes but apparently had limited success based on the amount written on his PADD. Dean thought that was less to do with the recent head trauma and more to do with Dean's incessant pacing. Sam didn't seem to mind though, just smiled down at his PADD.

        "He's fine Dean, you know I was in sick-bay with him for like 4 days." Dean frowned at his brother. 

        "How do you even know that's what I'm thinking about?"" Dean said as he stopped pacing in front of Sam.

        "Because you're my brother and I know you." Sam said shrugging. "No use in denying it now. I like to think I know when you like someone Dean. Cas is a good guy, I totally approve."

        "Since when did you two become such good friends?" Dean said, dropping himself into a chair opposite Sam. He remembered a time not too long ago when he had sat together with Cas like this. That was different though and, despite the way things had gone afterword, he was still glad about it.

    "We'll when you spend extended periods of time alone with someone you either start to really hate them or really like them. There's not exactly an in between." Sam looked at him like that was something he obviously should have known.

     Dean glared at him. "Bitch."

     "Jerk." Sam replied automatically, returning to his book.

      Dean leaned back in his chair and looked at the stars outside. He could see Vulcan from his window too, the orange planet taking up the bottom half of his window. It was a nice view but he couldn't really enjoy it. They were technically on shore leave while Starfleet got together the exact details of what had happened. He might have been worried if Ambassador Picard and Captain Data hadn't said that they would take care of any inquiries after Dean submitted his official report. Dean hadn't known how to thank them.

       Of course there were still a lot of things to deal with. But he tried to put those things out of his mind. Everything could wait at least until later that night, after the party Benny and Jo had decided to throw in the holo deck. He wasn't sure who was going to go but he had already heard two of his crew talking about it in excited whispers as he walked by. Jo had also made him promise to come and Sam seemed pretty excited about the whole affair, too.

       There was a ringing near his door and Dean jumped, thinking it was someone outside his quarters (that someone hopefully being Cas) but he quickly realized it was his sub-space communicator. Dean found himself considerably less excited.

        He slowly got himself up and walked over to sit in front of the screen. He noticed Sam looking up curiously from his book. Dean switched on his screen seeing a familiar face under a head of wavy blonde hair. "Bela Talbot, what do I owe the pleasure?" Dean said through gritted teeth.

       "Really, Dean, I was calling to congratulate you on your victory." She said, like she was offended.

       "Just get to the point. You know I, the captain, am very busy."

       She sighed. "Alright fine. You were successful in your mission, I've just gotten word from your father." From the corner of his eye he saw Sam's head really perk up.

       "Wait, you heard from him?" Dean said leaning closer to the screen.

       "Yes he sent me a message thanking me for helping him out. It included his resignation from Section 31. Honestly, I expect that's why you haven't seen him. You don't simply resign from Section 31."

        Dean narrowed his eyes. "How do I know your not lying?"

        "Believe me or not, it doesn't really matter. I called you as a courtesy. Your father helped me out of a few dangerous situations. I'm just returning the favor. Besides, I have no reason to lie to you. Have fun during your shore leave. I'm told you don't get it often." She said. The screen switched off after she finished. Dean growled unintelligibly.

         "Damn that woman gets on my nerves."

          "Well at least we know Dad's ok...somewhere." Sam said.

         "She could've been lying."

         Sam frowned. "I guess so but I don't really think that's likely. She's right, I don't think she has a reason to lie to you."

         "Yeah, I guess-" there was another ring and this time it was definitely from the door. Dean stood up to open it. Then paused.

         "What are you doing?" Sam said.

          "I'm not really sure. What if-"

           Before Dean could finish, Sam shouted. "Come in" grinning triumphantly. The door slid open to reveal Cas, still sporting a few bandages. He was in a pair of black pants and a too-large blue sweater with a large collar. He pulled at it, looking at Dean with those blue eyes that Dean had been so attracted to in the first place.

            "Hey, Cas, nice sweater." Sam said from behind Dean."

            "Thank you." Cas said, tilting his head to look at Sam. "Gabriel picked it out. He said something about it being my color. I was not aware I _had_ a color." Cas said eyebrows knit together. He looked back up at Dean. "I wanted to speak to you earlier but Tes'sa would not let me leave. I was only just now allowed to step foot out of the sick bay." He said he ran a hand through his messy dark hair, frowning. "I wanted to apologize to you about my deception of you and your crew. I did not realize it-" Dean didn't let him finish. He took a few steps forward, closing the distance between them and wrapped his hands around Cas's waist, pulling him close.

      "You're such a goddamn idiot, you know that Cas?"

      "I don't understand." He said, the words muffled by Dean's shoulder.

      "You almost get yourself killed and the first thing you want to do is apologize to me. Jesus Christ, Cas." Dean said taking a step back but keeping his hands on Cas's waist.

      "But I am sorry." Cas said, tilting his head to the side. Dean had the sudden urge to pull him in for another hug but resisted.

      "Alright, alright, I forgive you. I think stopping your crazy brother kind of makes us even."

      Cas nodded. "Good."

      "Well since your here now, Cas." Sam said walking up next to his brother. "We can go ahead and go to the party. Someone told you about it right?" Cas nodded again.

       "Wait a sec." Dean said letting go of Cas's waist to look at his brother. He still kept a hand on Cas's arm though, unwilling to let go. "I thought the party didn't start for another hour?"

        "It actually started an hour ago. I didn't tell you the real time because I didn't want you to freak out about Cas not being there yet."

        Dean smiled at his little brother fondly. "Bitch."

        "Jerk."


	16. Chapter 16

_Chapter 15:_

 

      Sam was enjoying the party for the most part. The holo-deck was the best option for it, Benny had programmed in a seedy looking roadside bar as the location and everyone seemed to be enjoying the novelty of it. He watched Charlie and Anna knock together their two tall glasses of beer, laughing at something Sam couldn't hear from his side of the room. Jo had started a sort of swing dancing line and was currently spinning around with Geordie LaForge who had come over from the Enterprise for the occasion.

       Sam was actually surprised how many Enterprise crew had showed up. Even their Captain Data had come over and was currently explaining the swing dancing to Tes'sa who was looking at the dancers as if it was one of the more interesting things she had seen in her life. Even Picard was here. Sam had been happy to see him again after such a long time. Even though Sam had been on Vulcan too, he didn't have the time to contact his father's old compatriot.

      Now Picard was talking with someone Sam didn't know at first glance. He was wearing a Starfleet uniform and had short brown hair. The look on Picard's face was the picture of irritation. As the stranger danced around him with a group of what appeared to be mariachis. Sam watched Gabriel walk up to the group. The stranger turned around and hugged him animatedly, Gabriel following suit. Something in their manner triggered a memory from Luci and he knew that this man was another Q, one that Picard was well acquainted with if the look on his face was anything to go by.

      Sam turned to look for his brother and Cas. He found them easily enough. Sitting in a corner table in the bar. Heads leaned together talking. Sam hadn't seen that look on Dean's face very often in his life and it made Sam smile. Dean deserved every ounce of happiness the universe had to offer. He had put up with a lot growing up. Having to take care of Sam most of the time. Sam knew Dean had sacrificed a lot to give Sam every possible advantage and he knew that, without Dean, Sam wouldn't be where he was today.

       Someone tapped him on the shoulder and he turned his head to find Gabriel. "Having fun yet." Sam said. Gabriel looked like he was going to make a smart-ass comment but something stopped him. He sat down beside Sam, watching the people dance drunkenly in front of them.

      "Not really. And neither are you." Gabriel said.

      "I'm having plenty of fun."

      "You and I both know that's not true," Gabriel said turning to look at Sam. "Can I ask you a question?"

     "Sure." Sam responded.

       "Was my brother... Was Luci happy when she was with you?"

       Sam looked at Gabriel, trying to gauge where he was going with this. "I don't know. Sometimes I thought she was... We had a lot of good times together but...looking back on it. Sometimes she seemed like she was haunted by something. I guess it all makes sense now, though."

       Gabriel lowered his eyes to study his folded hands. "Lucifer and me... We were like you and your brother...before the war I mean. The war really changed everything. But sometimes, even after leaving the Continuum... I just really missed him...I still do." Sam couldn't seem to break his gaze away from Gabriel's. He felt like they were far away, somewhere outside the holo-deck, he thought about Luci when they had went to the ancient gravesite. What she had said about dying with her family and being forgotten.

       "I do too." Sam said quietly. Gabriel nodded; frown pulling down the sides of his usually smiling face. He didn't say anything more just turned back to watch the people partying and dancing. Gabriel didn't move from Sam's side and neither did Sam.

 

...

 

     When they had gotten the chance, Cas followed Dean out of the holo deck, hand in hand down the hall. Dean led him back the way they had come to the party. Once inside Dean's quarters, Dean turned back towards Cas, a strange look on his face.

       "So, what are you going to do next?" Dean said. Cas thought he was aiming for nonchalance but failed.

        "Next?"

        "Yeah." He shrugged "Like are you going back to your home...the uh...continuum?"

        Cas looked down at the floor. "I don't think that's really an option for me anymore. I don't really have any Q left in me."

         "I didn't know." Dean said. Cas looked up at him and knew he meant it. "I'm sorry."

        "It's not as bad as I originally thought it was going to be." He said. "I thought it may happen eventually and I had resolved myself to die just a few days ago. I believe being alive and Vulcan may be better than being dead and Q."

         "Well if it means anything, I'm glad you’re not dead." Dean said, shrugging awkwardly,

         "It does mean something." Cas said. "It means a lot." Dean looked at him, clearly unsure. Cas, a small smile on his lips walked closer to Dean, wrapped his arms around his waist and kissed him.

        Cas had never actually had any kind of intimate relations before, though he did know theoretically how they worked. He wasn't prepared though, when Dean pulled at his blue sweater, tugging it up and over Cas's head leaving his chest suddenly bare and chilled. He wasn't prepared when Dean laced their fingers together sending shock waves down Cas's spine or when Dean leaned in to bite at Cas's neck making him shiver in a way that had nothing to do with the temperature of the room.

        Dean pushed him back into the darkened interior of Dean's bedroom. The light that bounced from star to star and from the orange planet lit the room in a strange surreal glow. Cas fell back onto Dean's bed readily, watching as Dean clambered clumsily on top of him, wide smile on his face.

         He kissed Cas again, taking time to lace the long fingers of his hands with Cas's and pulling them up above Cas's head to rest on the pillows. Cas moaned into Dean's mouth, feeling like every hair on his body was standing on end.

      Dean was a practiced lover, having lived a life that frequently brought him into such situations. Cas was glad of this; he was not sure what he would have done without Dean's confident hands tracing lines down his arms. Cas shivered as Dean started to kiss a line down his stomach. Pausing only to remove the rest of Cas's clothes. Revealing Cas's cock to the chilled air. Dean smiled wickedly up at Cas before diving his head down and wrapping his mouth around Cas's hardened length. Cas's back arched without his control and a strangled sound escaped from his lips. Dean repeated the process again making him shiver violently, grabbing onto the headboard to steady himself.

        After a moment, Dean pulled himself up to his knees. Cas's hips arching instinctively up towards Dean. "I guess you liked that, Cas." Dean said, voice barely louder than a whisper. He tugged his uniform shirt over his head and tossed it to the floor.  The absence of his shirt revealed the lines of his muscles and the shape of his ribs. Cas reached out, running his fingers along the defined curves of Dean's warm skin. Dean twitched and his eyes closed as he let out a fast breath.

        He moved to the side of Cas, taking a moment to shed the rest of his clothes. Then lay down next to him grasping Cas's arms and pulling him on top. Cas was a quick study, leaning down to kiss Dean's warm open mouth before making his way down to wear Dean's cock rose up, hard. Cas leaned his head down and licked up the length of it experimentally. Dean shuddered, a moan escaping from his lips. "Yeah, Cas, just like that." Cas needed no more encouragement and continued his ministrations on Dean's hard cock until Dean was moaning uncontrollably. Cas dipped his hand down, taking Dean's length into his mouth.

       "Fucking shit." Words escaped uncontrolled from Dean's lips as his hips arched up. Dean's hand dove into Cas's hair, fingers combing through it and pulling as Cas moved his mouth up and down.

      Suddenly Dean pulled at Cas's hair, signally him to stop. Cas looked up at Dean confused. Dean just smiled and shrugged. "I'm not sure i want the party to end just yet."

      "We are not at a party." Cas said eyebrows coming together.

      A strangled laugh burst from Dean's lips. "It's just a saying, Cas. I'm saying I'm not quite ready for the uh...the ending yet." Cas suddenly understood and nodded.

       "You know the basics right?" Dean said, leaning up on his elbows to look at Cas moved up closer to Dean, just noticing how many freckles he had making a spotted line under his eyes and across the bridge of his nose.

       "Of course. You know I have lived quite a bit longer than you." Cas said, raising an eyebrow. Dean laughed again.

        "You've already got the Vulcan face down, Cas. I don't think you'll have much problem fitting in."

        "Alright." Dean said. Cas was amazed at how intricate intimate relations became but was glad again, that Dean was there, slicking Cas's fingers with a bottle he pulled from his dresser. Guiding Cas between his legs and moving his hand showing him were to push and stretch into the warmth and heat of Dean's living, breathing, body. Dean was panting heavily by the time Cas had pushed three of his fingers into him. Sweat reflecting off his skin making his body seem to glow. Cas was entranced.

         "Are you, ready?" Dean huffed out. Cas nodded, blue eyes on Dean's flushed face as Dean reached up pulling Cas down beside him and flipping himself on top, slowly guiding himself onto Cas.

        Cas felt like he was drowning and being electrified all at once. His skin felt to light and he gasped for air a moan slipping out of his throat as he breathed in the cool air. "You ok." Dean managed to say, hooded green eyes on Cas's wide blue ones.

       "Y-yes." Cas breathed out. Dean moved then, raising himself up slowly and then sliding himself back down on to Cas's hard length. Cas felt his hair stand on end, every muscle tensing upward as Dean rode him setting an even pace. Cas shuddered as electricity ran through his veins setting him on fire. He grabbed Dean's hips; feeling the hard bones beneath and Dean shuddered, pace quickening. Cas reached up gliding his finger nails down Dean's chest.

         Dean moaned brokenly and Cas gazed up at him, desperate to be closer to him than he was even now. He pulled Dean down, kissing Dean frantically as he felt liquid-fire run through his veins, pooling downward as Cas arched upward. Eyes wide as every muscle in his body tightened and then released, Cas lost all control of thought his vision going dark at the edges the only thing left was Dean.

          He felt Dean shudder and cry out, voice echoing in the small room. Cas's mind went blank as he came. Tipping over a precipice into the comforting warmth of the bed. Dean collapsed next to him, breathing heavily. Cas forced open his blue eyes to look at Dean who smiled tiredly at him; face fond as his green eyes mapped Cas' body.

       "I'm glad you’re staying," he said quietly.

       "Me too." Cas whispered back as he slipped quietly into sleep.

      He awoke to find himself tucked into bed, covers pulled up over him and Dean breathing softly beside him, forehead pressed to forehead.  Dean's arm was wrapped around Cas's waist, other hand tucked under his pillow.

       As he drifted back into the warmth of sleep, Cas thought that, for the first time in a long time, he felt like he was home.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first published fic and I'm pretty excited about it. It's an idea I've had for quite some time (being a major trekkie and all). I am lucky enough to have art drawn for this fic by the very talented Hotrodngold which you may have seen at the beginning. I would also like to thank my beta reader Arcticwhitewolf who really helped me out with all my crazy ass writing.  
> Thanks so much to both of you! And to you, dear reader, happy reading!


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